BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM

Arms Trade: Export Controls

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps the Government plans to take to strengthen controls on the export of arms.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 18 February 2008
	On 6 February 2008 the Government published their initial response to a public consultation carried out as part of the 2007 review of export control legislation. The response can be viewed on BERR's website at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/europeandtrade/strategic-export-control/legislation/export-control-act-20Q2/review/index.html
	The initial response commits the Government to (1) extending export laws to control the brokering and trafficking, by UK persons anywhere in the world, of small arms, man portable air defence systems (MANPADs), and those cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians; (2) extending controls on the export and trading of torture equipment to include sting sticks; (3) starting ED negotiations to introduce a new EU-wide torture end use control, which would enable all EU states to make licensable—and therefore refuse—the export of any equipment believed to be for use in acts of torture; and (4) rationalising the licensing treatment of long range missiles and unmanned air vehicles.

Business: Sustainable Development

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 
	(1)  what contribution his Department will make to the funding of programmes run by  (a) Business Link and  (b) the Manufacturing Advisory Service for the provision of advice on resources efficiency to businesses in 2008-09;
	(2)  what contribution his Department plans to make to the funding of programmes run by  (a) Business Link and  (b) the Manufacturing Advisory Service for the provision of advice on resources efficiency to businesses in 2008-09.

Malcolm Wicks: In 2008-09, BERR will provide the following levels of funding for Business Link and Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS):
	
		
			   £ million 
			 Business Link: 141.7 
			 MAS: (1 )5 
			 (1 )expected to be at least match funded by RDA contributions

Business: Sustainable Development

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will bring forward proposals to require businesses above a certain size to put in place sustainability strategies and to submit them to his Department.

Malcolm Wicks: It is not Government's role to inquire into the sustainability of individual firms. Business must ensure its own long term competitiveness in a low carbon economy and investors must satisfy themselves that they are investing in companies equipped to meet future environmental and social challenges.

Departmental Official Residences

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many Ministerial residences were available to his Department's Ministers and those of its predecessors in each of the last 10 years.

Gareth Thomas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office on 19 February 2008,  Official Report, column 688W

Energy: Fees and Charges

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent meetings his Department has held with energy companies to discuss the premium paid by pre-payment customers for gas and electricity; and what progress has been made in encouraging energy suppliers to reduce this premium.

Malcolm Wicks: I last met representatives of the six the largest suppliers and Ofgem on 31 January, with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. We both expressed strongly our growing concern about rising tariff differentials.
	Gas and electricity suppliers have been considering their tariff structures and two companies have equalised their standard credit and prepayment prices for electricity, while one offers prepayment customers a lower price for both fuels than that paid by standard credit customers.
	The Government will continue to work with Ofgem to ensure we do all we can to encourage customers to switch to the best payment method. There are considerable benefits to be had—customers changing supplier and payment type (eg credit to direct debit) should see an average saving of around £130, and may even make larger savings of up to £200.

Fuel Poverty

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to the answer of 15 October 2007,  Official Report, column 805W, when he will publish his Department's analysis of which of the major six energy companies offer a proportional programme of assistance.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 4 February 2008
	We will publish our analysis in the UK Fuel Poverty Strategy 6th Annual Progress Report later this year.

Fuel Poverty

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make a statement on progress towards the Government's target of eradicating fuel poverty  (a) in England by 2010 and  (b) in the UK by 2016 to 2018.

Malcolm Wicks: We have been successful in reducing fuel poverty between 1996 and 2005 by 3 million vulnerable households across the UK.
	However, as indicated in our most recent UK Fuel Poverty Strategy 5(th) Annual Progress Report www.berr.gov.uk/energy/fuel-poverty/strategy/index.html energy prices since 2003 have had an impact on households in fuel poverty.
	The Government remain committed to our fuel poverty targets, working together with those key stakeholders including the energy suppliers, voluntary groups, energy efficiency scheme managers and campaigning organisations to ensure that appropriate progress is made.

Fuels: Prices

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent assessment he has made of the impact on the rural economy of the cost of petrol and diesel.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department has not specifically undertaken an assessment of the impact of the cost of petrol and diesel on the rural economy. However, prices in rural and remote areas, where distribution costs are higher and the degree of retail competition is lower, will typically be higher than the UK average.
	The Government recognise the importance of transport in rural areas and has provided grant funding to develop and enhance local rural bus and community services.

Furniture

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what support his Department has provided to  (a) the furniture manufacturing industry and  (b) its supply chain in the last 10 years; which elements of such support have been provided on a regional basis; and what plans he has to fund future assistance to the (i) furniture manufacturing sector and (ii) its supply chain to support its global competitiveness.

Malcolm Wicks: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer to her earlier question on 11 December 2006,  Official Report, column 805W, which detailed the financial support to the furniture sector since 1990. Since that time we have continued to provide funding towards UK First, the furniture industry forum, and will continue to do so until March 2008. UK Trade and Investment continues to help the furniture sector succeed overseas with support under the Tradeshow Access Programme and the sector forms a component of the strategy to market the UK's creative industries overseas. In the regions Advantage West Midlands has set up Furniture West Midlands to support the sector and Furniture Link, managed by Business Link London, is helping furniture companies to develop business opportunities. In addition the Government Businesslink service offers a range of support solutions to companies in all sectors. Support is also available through the Manufacturing Advisory Service and under the Technology Programme if the industry can address the technology priorities identified by the Technology Strategy Board.

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what agreement his Department has made with CMC insurers about the CMC/CMR co-morbidity report costs for service claims under the miners' compensation claim scheme.

Malcolm Wicks: No specific agreement has been made between the Department and the Coal Mining Contractors' (CMC) insurers with respect to the costs of CMC and Coal Mining Related co-morbidity reports for services claims under the Vibration White Finger scheme.
	However, 50 per cent. of reasonable costs incurred by the CMC insurer for the co-morbidity medical will be reimbursed under the existing reimbursement agreements between the Department and the CMCs.

Low Carbon Buildings Programme

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what plans he has for the future of the low carbon buildings programme; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: From a total budget of £86 million made available through the low carbon buildings programme, we have committed approximately £26 million to 5,700 household, community group, public, private and charitable sector projects to date.
	We are currently exploring options for raising awareness in the programme and encouraging uptake in grants, in consultation with stakeholders, including industry representatives.
	Grants of up to £2,500 per property remain available to households, and grants of up to £1 million remain available to public sector organisations and charitable bodies through to 2009. Further details on the household stream are available at:
	www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk
	and detailed information regarding grants available to public sector organisations and charitable bodies are available at:
	http://www.lowcarbonbuildingsphase2.org.uk/
	Beyond LCBP, electricity technologies are supported by the renewables obligation (RO) and CERT will apply to microgeneration technologies from April 2008. More significant changes to the RO are planned for 2009 including differentiated levels of support to different technologies in order to encourage a larger contribution from emerging renewable technologies. This change will benefit microgenerators (i.e. generators under 50 kW), including all PV. We will also be looking at support for microgeneration as part of the renewable energy strategy.

Microgeneration

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate his Department has made of the number of domestic microgeneration installations, broken down by type; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: An Energy Saving Trust report commissioned by the then DTI and completed in 2005 estimated that there were approximately 82,000 microgeneration installations in the United Kingdom by the end of 2004. We are currently commissioning further research to provide up to date estimates.
	The following table sets out installations by technologies taken from the EST data plus installations under Government grant programmes from 1 April 2005 to the end of December 2006.
	
		
			  Technology  Number of installations  Total number of grant funded installations to end December 2006 
			 Wind 650 883 
			 Hydro 90 107 
			 Ground source heat pumps 546 1,251 
			 Biomass 150 422 
			 Solar water heating 78,470 81,494 
			 PV 1,301 2,143 
			 Micro CHP 990 990 
			 Other 5 34 
			
			 Total 82,202 87,323 
			 (1) EST report end March 2005 (2) Total likely to be higher 
		
	
	For installations under the low carbon buildings programme, which started in April 2006, please see the latest statistics on domestic installations at:
	http://www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk/info/stats/

Microgeneration: Standards

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what targets he has set for installing heat producing microgeneration in settlements of fewer than 10,000 in homes classified as  (a) hard to treat and  (b) hard to reach.

Malcolm Wicks: We currently have no specific targets for installing microgeneration technologies in these areas.
	BERR and the local regional development agencies have each provided £l million in co-funding to each of two demonstration programmes in North-East England and Yorkshire and Humberside, which consist of a number of projects to provide mains gas or renewables technologies to deprived communities. Each of these programmes has a target of helping 20 communities and installing measures in 2,000 homes in each RDA area.
	We will also be examining the benefits of wider microgeneration targets in accordance with the requirements of the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006.

Mining: Pensions

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what time limit the current split between beneficiaries and Government of future valuation surpluses from the Mineworkers Pension Scheme are subject to; and if he will meet trustees to discuss these arrangements.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 21 February 2008
	The equal division between beneficiaries and Government of periodic surpluses in the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme is a fundamental element of the arrangements established in 1994 whereby the Government provides an insolvency guarantee to the scheme. These arrangements are not time limited. Although my officials are in regular dialogue with scheme representatives on a range of issues, I have no immediate plans to meet the trustees.

Mobile Phones: Contracts

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether mobile telephone providers have a statutory obligation to inform their customers when they have reached the end of their mobile contract.

Malcolm Wicks: Mobile telephone operators are under no statutory obligation to inform their customers when the minimum term of a mobile contract has ended.

Nuclear Power Stations: Decommissioning

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the timescale is for decommissioning nuclear sites; and what estimate he has made of the prospects for achieving targets set for decommissioning such sites.

Malcolm Wicks: The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has responsibility for the decommissioning and cleaning up of the historic civil public nuclear sites, including the Magnox nuclear power stations. A life cycle description of each site for which the NDA is responsible, including key decommissioning milestones, is set out in the NDA strategy, which is available on the NDA website at:
	www.nda.gov.uk.

Office of Communications: Finance

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what financial contributions were made by  (a) O2,  (b) Vodafone,  (c) 3,  (d) Orange,  (e) T-Mobile and  (f) Virgin Mobile to Ofcom in the last year for which information is available.

Malcolm Wicks: The matter raised is the responsibility of the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which is accountable to Parliament rather than Ministers. Accordingly, I have asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to reply directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the Chief Executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Offshore Industry: Taxation

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much the Government paid to  (a) the Isle of Man and  (b) Northern Ireland in relation to UK Continental Shelf receipts in each year since 2004.

Malcolm Wicks: The following table shows how much the Government have paid to  (a) the Isle of Man and  (b) Northern Ireland in respect of a share of UK Continental Shelf receipts since 2004:
	
		
			  Payments to Isle of Man and Northern Ireland 
			  £000 
			  Financial year  Isle of Man  Northern Ireland 
			 2003-04 0 13,175 
			 2004-05 0 1,527 
			 2005-06 0 1,317 
			 2006-07 0 1,392

Power Stations: Carbon Sequestration

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make it his policy to require the use of carbon capture and storage technology as a condition for approval of the new Kingsnorth power station in Kent.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 21 February 2008
	No decision on the application for consent to build a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth has yet been taken.

Renewable Energy: National Grid

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what renewable energy projects have been built which are not connected to the national grid.

Malcolm Wicks: I am not aware of any large-scale renewable electricity projects that have been built but which are not connected to the national grid.
	Microgeneration is used in off-grid applications, for example to power parking meters. There may also be domestic microgeneration projects which remain off-grid due to the property owners' choice. The Department does not hold statistics relating to these projects. As I understand it, larger distributed energy installations that use a private wire network for the distribution and supply of electricity tend to maintain a grid connection, for example to maintain supply in the event of a failure of their own generating plant. These installations could operate in what is known as "island-mode", using their own generation in the event of a cut in grid supply, but we are not aware of any that choose to operate off grid at all times.
	In addition, there are some renewable energy developments, such as renewable heat projects, that do not generate electricity and so do not require connection to the grid.

Sellafield

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the design capacity of the Sellafield Mox Plant is; and how many tonnes of mixed oxide fuel were manufactured at the plant in each year since it was opened.

Malcolm Wicks: I am advised by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority that the original design capacity for the Sellafield Mox Plant, based on largely unproven technology, was 120tHM (tonnes heavy metal) per annum. From assessments during uranium commissioning in 2001, this was revised to 72tHM. Justification of the plant was approved in October 2001. Output as finished fuel assemblies has been as follows:
	
		
			   tHM 
			 2002-03 0.0 
			 2003-04 0.0 
			 2004-05 0.3 
			 2005-06 2.3 
			 2006-07 2.6

Telecommunications: Fees and Charges

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether he has received the report from Ofcom concluding its review of communications providers' additional charges; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 18 February 2008
	The independent regulator the Office of Communications (Ofcom) announced on 6 June 2007 that it would carry out a full review of communications providers' additional charges. Ofcom is accountable to Parliament rather than Ministers. Ofcom expects to announce the conclusions of its review soon, and progress may be monitored on its website: www.ofcom.org.uk.

Utilities: Prices

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps the Government have taken to regulate utility bill price increases in the last three years.

Malcolm Wicks: Neither the Government nor Ofgem regulate overall prices in the energy supply markets, which are competitive markets. Ofgem does regulate charges in monopoly sectors of the energy markets, including transmission and distribution, and these charges form part of consumers' energy bills.

Utilities: Prices

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps the Government have taken to encourage energy providers to minimise utility bill price rises.

Malcolm Wicks: The Government do not interfere in commercial pricing decisions in the energy supply markets, which are competitive markets.
	However we are concerned about the impact of higher prices on vulnerable people and we continue to encourage energy suppliers to adopt social tariffs and to restrict price rises for the most vulnerable. In the Energy White Paper, we called for suppliers to increase their help to vulnerable customers. The level of help has now increased from £40 million to £56 million during winter 2007-08 with around 700,000 households benefiting. All these companies have committed to continuing their programmes of assistance for the next three years.

Wind Power: Licensing

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 1 February 2008,  Official Report, column 699W, on wind power (licensing), what proportion of future offshore renewables applications he expects to be for wind farms generating over 100 MW of power.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 21 February 2008
	The size of future offshore wind farms in development consent applications will depend on the outcome of the Strategic Environmental Assessment on offshore energy currently underway, future Crown Estate competitions for options for site leases and proposals put forward by wind farm developers.
	For the Crown Estate's Round 1 competition in 2001 for demonstration-scale offshore wind farm projects, it was a requirement for proposals to be under 100MW in scale. Under the Round 2 competition in 2003, for commercial-scale projects, only one lease option was granted for a proposal under 100MW. My Department expects that while some proposals may be for offshore wind farms under 100MW, it is likely that the majority of future offshore wind farm proposals will be over 100MW.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Sports: Finance

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much has been drawn down by each local education authority from New Opportunities for PE and Sport funding; and how many projects have received funding.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 21 February 2008
	 I have been asked to reply.
	In England, £495.16 million of the £581.25 million of funding available for the New Opportunities for PE and Sport (NOPES) has been allocated direct to Local authorities. This has helped them to support 1,365 capital projects, developing or refurbishing over 2,300 sports facilities. The following table shows NOPES allocations by local authority; draw-down by local authorities against those allocations; and the numbers of projects and sports facilities supported.
	
		
			  Local education authority  Total allocation (£)  Total draw-down to date (£)  Total capital projects  Number of sports facilities 
			 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council 3,993,000 2,231,938 2 2 
			 Bath and North East Somerset Council 945,000 945,000 5 5 
			 Bedfordshire County Council 2,571,000 1,328,662 14 20 
			 Birmingham City Council 16,919,000 10,836,893 41 42 
			 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council 2,562,000 1,245,466 6 6 
			 Blackpool Council 2,362,000 1,660,240 18 18 
			 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council 3,475,000 2,774,241 33 36 
			 Borough of Poole 630,000 606,584 6 6 
			 Bournemouth Borough Council 1,283,000 1,027,538 4 17 
			 Bracknell Forest Borough Council 530,000 230,684 4 4 
			 Bradford Metropolitan District Council 8,035,000 6,978,542 28 28 
			 Brighton and Hove City Council 2,246,000 2,246,000 2 3 
			 Bristol City Council 4,478,000 4,187,469 7 7 
			 Buckinghamshire County Council 2,599,000 2,247,303 16 16 
			 Bury Metropolitan Borough Council 1,704,000 1,480,014 8 8 
			 Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council 2,003,000 1,912,686 9 9 
			 Cambridgeshire County Council 2,879,000 2,601,251 17 17 
			 Cheshire County Council 4,816,000 4,587,194 12 61 
			 City of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council 5,000,000 4,160,555 6 6 
			 Cornwall County Council 4,518,000 4,071,482 9 9 
			 Corporation of London 53,000 53,000 1 1 
			 Coventry City Council 4,529,000 3,622,876 6 6 
			 Cumbria County Council 4,607,000 3,377,380 5 5 
			 Darlington Borough Council 1,075,000 1,074,819 10 10 
			 Derby City Council 2,712,000 1,784,268 5 5 
			 Derbyshire County Council 6,097,000 4,753,598 31 31 
			 Devon County Council 3,953,000 2,591,586 16 62 
			 Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council 4,746,000 4,541,912 8 8 
			 Dorset County Council 2,082,000 1,604,843 10 12 
			 Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council 3,244,000 2,593,262 13 13 
			 Durham County Council 7,335,000 6,936,452 5 5 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire Council 2,196,000 1,648,634 4 4 
			 East Sussex County Council 3,727,000 3,277,500 10 10 
			 Essex County Council 9,068,000 6,615,717 18 18 
			 Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council 3,057,000 2,867,504 4 4 
			 Gloucestershire County Council 3,663,000 3,233,633 13 39 
			 Greenwich Council 3,886,000 2,972,934 8 8 
			 Halton Borough Council 2,337,000 1,826,131 8 8 
			 Hampshire County Council 6,634,000 6,429,663 10 10 
			 Harrow Council 1,029,000 932,532 3 3 
			 Hartlepool Borough Council 1,714,605 1,697,405 11 15 
			 Herefordshire Council 1,084,000 1,011,405 1 1 
			 Hertfordshire County Council 5,684,000 4,372,265 7 7 
			 Isle of Wight Council 1,371,000 1,182,883 5 49 
			 Isles of Scilly Council 25,000 25,000 1 5 
			 Kent County Council 10,437,000 6,690,182 22 39 
			 Kingston Upon Hull City Council 4,212,000 396,829 5 5 
			 Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council 4,821,000 4,248,644 6 33 
			 Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council 3,194,000 658,794 16 17 
			 Lancashire County Council 11,987,000 7,490,780 21 21 
			 Leeds City Council 7,712,000 6,516,315 5 28 
			 Leicester City Council 4,996,000 3,974,518 6 6 
			 Leicestershire County Council 3,350,000 2,906,581 14 14 
			 Lincolnshire County Council 4,987,000 4,729,427 4 4 
			 Liverpool City Council 9,217,000 8,625,007 11 12 
			 London Borough of Barking and Dagenham 3,082,000 2,038,690 2 2 
			 London Borough of Barnet 1,776,000 945,042 5 5 
			 London Borough of Bexley 1,874,000 1,661,839 6 11 
			 London Borough of Brent 2,965,000 2,446,715 11 12 
			 London Borough of Bromley 1,906,000 1,891,493 13 15 
			 London Borough of Camden 2,460,000 2,455,457 7 7 
			 London Borough of Croydon 2,376,000 2,195,012 10 13 
			 London Borough of Ealing 2,978,000 1,246,998 11 25 
			 London Borough of Enfield 2,995,000 2,714,460 13 90 
			 London Borough of Hackney 4,259,000 1,830,378 9 9 
			 London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham 1,510,000 1,488,431 13 89 
			 London Borough of Haringey 3,775,000 3,168,229 20 22 
			 London Borough of Havering 1,684,000 577,279 4 12 
			 London Borough of Hillingdon 1,403,000 1,039,751 6 7 
			 London Borough of Hounslow 1,573,000 1,397,621 16 16 
			 London Borough of Islington 3,796,000 996,577 8 10 
			 London Borough of Lambeth 4,362,000 1,625,494 20 21 
			 London Borough of Lewisham 3,817,000 2,299,595 8 8 
			 London Borough of Merton 903,000 903,000 3 4 
			 London Borough of Newham 5,425,000 1,813,272 5 5 
			 London Borough of Redbridge 2,131,000 1,920,973 1 1 
			 London Borough of Richmond upon Thames 899,000 891,741 12 28 
			 London Borough of Southwark 4,286,000 1,240,260 9 10 
			 London Borough of Sutton 1,176,000 1,108,195 3 3 
			 London Borough of Tower Hamlets 4,204,000 2,739,045 12 13 
			 London Borough of Waltham Forest 3,481,000 2,940,857 5 7 
			 London Borough of Wandsworth 1,448,000 1,262,870 5 5 
			 Luton Borough Council 2,008,000 1,977,999 8 11 
			 Manchester City Council 8,823,000 7,969,292 9 95 
			 Medway Council 2,165,000 1,310,672 5 13 
			 Metropolitan Borough of Wirral 4,448,000 4,315,945 5 6 
			 Middlesbrough Council 2,317,895 2,306,533 18 18 
			 Milton Keynes Council 1,455,000 1,375,462 5 5 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne City Council 4,338,000 2,740,442 4 4 
			 Norfolk County Council 6,358,000 5,649,285 14 64 
			 North East Lincolnshire Council 1,965,000 1,826,367 3 3 
			 North Lincolnshire Council 1,319,000 517,689 2 2 
			 North Somerset Council 1,170,000 992,135 4 4 
			 North Tyneside Council 2,364,000 2,341,500 7 11 
			 North Yorkshire County Council 3,421,000 3,313,647 19 20 
			 Northamptonshire County Council 5,034,000 4,333,042 17 18 
			 Northumberland County Council 2,972,000 1,762,748 6 7 
			 Nottingham City Council 5,080,000 5,036,841 10 10 
			 Nottinghamshire County Council 7,358,000 5,849,238 57 62 
			 Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council 3,362,000 2,962,653 3 3 
			 Oxfordshire County Council 3,329,000 2,898,495 5 5 
			 Peterborough City Council 1,855,000 1,779,199 5 5 
			 Plymouth City Council 3,154,000 1,805,674 13 13 
			 Portsmouth City Council 1,450,000 1,258,905 8 14 
			 Reading Borough Council 920,000 615,960 3 7 
			 Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council 2,069,800 1,103,532 11 17 
			 Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council 2,873,000 2,772,036 5 5 
			 Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council 3,832,000 2,347,543 3 3 
			 Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 1,338,000 948,645 3 3 
			 Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames 678,000 482,290 4 4 
			 Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead 763,560 625,492 4 67 
			 Rutland County Council 203,000 0 1 1 
			 Salford City Council 3,922,000 3,704,393 11 15 
			 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council 5,526,000 2,673,678 15 27 
			 Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council 3,331,000 3,133,399 14 93 
			 Sheffield City Council 6,010,000 5,716,637 6 11 
			 Shropshire County Council 1,414,000 1,351,952 4 4 
			 Slough Borough Council 1,007,000 910,307 3 3 
			 Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council 1,945,000 761,613 3 3 
			 Somerset County Council 3,062,000 2,686,163 12 15 
			 South Gloucestershire Council 1,261,000 1,261,000 4 4 
			 South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council 3,031,000 2,112,891 5 5 
			 Southampton City Council 2,310,000 2,050,422 4 4 
			 Southend on Sea Borough Council 1,303,000 1,302,999 5 5 
			 St. Helens Council 3,092,000 1,926,063 7 8 
			 Staffordshire County Council 5,839,000 4,870,824 16 25 
			 Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council 2,150,000 2,145,992 12 119 
			 Stockton on Tees Borough Council 2,286,700 2,161,587 5 5 
			 Stoke-on-Trent City Council 4,547,000 3,003,747 5 5 
			 Suffolk County Council 4,701,000 3,598,203 6 6 
			 Sunderland City Council 5,377,000 5,239,753 8 9 
			 Surrey County Council 5,277,000 3,159,477 20 20 
			 Swindon Borough Council 1,363,000 1,080,971 7 7 
			 Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council 3,363,000 2,728,286 4 4 
			 Telford and Wrekin Council 1,847,000 1,623,320 4 4 
			 Thurrock Borough Council 1,619,000 1,201,654 7 7 
			 Torbay Council 1,832,000 1,805,469 5 7 
			 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council 1,634,000 1,581,318 8 8 
			 Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council 3,959,000 3,670,395 7 7 
			 Warrington Borough Council 1,807,000 1,714,330 4 4 
			 Warwickshire County Council 3,358,000 2,724,130 5 5 
			 West Berkshire Council 811,000 789,203 5 6 
			 West Sussex County Council 3,905,000 3,727,169 17 24 
			 Westminster City Council 1,758,000 636,994 8 8 
			 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council 4,310,000 4,270,126 15 15 
			 Wiltshire County Council 2,163,000 2,078,933 7 8 
			 Wokingham Borough Council 819,440 602,287 9 9 
			 Wolverhampton City Council 3,963,000 3,509,998 14 46 
			 Worcestershire County Council 3,100,000 2,706,115 5 5 
			 York City Council 818,000 772,891 1 1 
			 Total 495,158,000 385,677,245 1,365 2,349

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Council Housing: Property Transfer

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much gap funding was provided for stock transfers in each year since 1997; how such funding has been financed; and if she will make a statement.

Iain Wright: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him today to PQ 162805.

Council Tax: Gloucester

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance has been issued to Gloucestershire County Council on the account to be taken of the flooding of summer 2007 in the setting of its council tax precept for 2008-09.

John Healey: While Government have not provided guidance to local authorities on how they should set their council tax precept we have made it clear that we expect the national average increase in council tax to be substantially below 5 per cent.
	In July 2007 Communities and Local Government wrote to the chief executives of flood affected authorities to remind them of powers around council tax discounts and business rate relief that would enable them to provide financial relief to affected taxpayers.
	In addition to any statutory council tax discounts that may apply to those forced out of their homes by flooding, local authorities have discretionary powers, under section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, to grant discounts of up to 100 per cent. to householders who have been affected.
	Local authorities can also consider whether non-domestic properties hit by flooding should be liable for empty property rates and/or whether to exercise their discretionary powers under section 49 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 to grant hardship rate relief in respect of occupied or empty properties.

Devolution: Wales

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make it her policy to designate the Welsh Assembly Government as a statutory consultee on national policy statements impacting on Wales.

John Healey: As we made clear in the white paper "Planning for a Sustainable Future (Cm 7120)" published in May 2007, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland ministers will be statutory consultees in the development of relevant national policy statements.

Eco Towns

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when her Department expects to announce which eco-town bids have been shortlisted.

Caroline Flint: We are carrying out an initial sift of eco-towns proposals across Government and its agencies. This will give a preliminary indication of the sustainability and infrastructure potential of these schemes in relation to the criteria set out in the eco-towns prospectus, including their approach to transport and the environment. We are also contacting local authorities and regional bodies, in areas where schemes look to have the potential to go forward to a shortlist for consultation. We hope to publish this shortlist in early March 2008 for consultation with the public, wider stakeholders and local authorities.

Eco-Towns: Essex

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she has received any bids for new eco-towns in Essex in the last six months.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 22 February 2008
	We have received more than 50 expressions of interest from both the public and private sector for eco-town schemes. At this stage, I am not able to disclose the details of bids, in view of the Department's process and the interests of bidders, but we will be publishing a shortlist in the near future for full consultation with the public, wider stakeholders and local authorities.

Gambling: Internet

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which countries are on the white list of approved nations allowed to operate an internet gambling service in the UK.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 21 February 2008
	 I have been asked to reply.
	Tasmania and the States of Alderney and the Isle of Man are the only three jurisdictions or countries that have been added to the 'whitelist' which allows gambling operators licensed in these jurisdictions to advertise remote gambling in the UK as if they were an EEA state.
	Any operator that wishes to operate an internet gambling site from Great Britain (ie has remote gambling equipment located in Great Britain) would require an operating licence from the Gambling Commission.

Health and Safety Executive

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2008,  Official Report, column 778W, on the Health and Safety Executive, if she will place in the Library copies of the correspondence between the Health and Safety Executive and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister relating to the water heaters of the type involved in the fatalities in 2002 and 2007.

Iain Wright: Copies of correspondence between the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2003 and between the HSE and Communities and Local Government in 2006-07 have today been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Home Information Packs: Finance

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how much has been spent on home information packs from the public purse; how much has been spent on associated  (a) legal fees and  (b) external advisers; and how much is budgeted to be spent in the remainder of this financial year;
	(2)  how much has been spent on publicity, marketing and communications relating to home information packs to date.

Caroline Flint: An update was given to the hon. Member on 7 February 2008,  Official Report, column 1313W.

Homes and Communities Agency: Thames Gateway

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will bring forward proposals for a system by which the proposed Homes and Communities Agency will engage with hon. Members representing constituencies in the Thames Gateway area; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Government's response to the Public Accounts Committee report into the Thames Gateway outlined that the views of hon. Members representing constituencies in the Thames Gateway are being sought by the Department as to how this communication and dialogue can be improved and strengthened. The Department intends to meet with the Thames Gateway Parliamentary Group to discuss how the programme can most effectively engage hon. Members. We plan to continue to use this and other avenues to ensure that the Homes and Communities Agency builds on this work when it takes over responsibility for the Thames Gateway.

Housing: Low Incomes

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what gap funding payments by her Department to registered social landlords to support large scale voluntary transfers were made in respect of each local authority area in  (a) 2004-05,  (b) 2005-06 and  (c) 2006-07; and how much is estimated to be paid in respect of each such area in 2007-08.

Iain Wright: £182 million has been made available over the period of the 2004 Spending Review, up to 2007-08, for gap funding payments to registered social landlords taking negatively valued housing stock from local authorities under large scale voluntary transfer arrangements. These grant payment arrangements enable sufficient private finance to be levered in to enable full Decent Homes investment programmes to be undertaken by RSLs after transfer. We have currently entered into 28 gap funding arrangements with RSLs. Payments to those RSLs under these arrangements are made from the Department's Capital DEL budget.
	Details of the gap funding grant payments to date and current 2007-08 forecasts by local authority area are in the following table. The table does not include possible grant payments in the current year in respect of gap funding arrangements with RSLs that have yet to be finalised.
	We estimate that about £2 billion of private finance is likely to be levered in to support Decent Homes investment programmes by RSLs taking housing stock, where gap funding arrangements are in place.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Local authority area  Gap funding ceiling  Grant payments made to RSLs  Current estimate of grant payments 
			2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 NE Lincolnshire 17.00 7.65 0.50 3.601 4.000 
			 LBTH 39.864 — 1.21 4.552 10.169 
			 Preston 47.999 — 2.05 4.815 4.748 
			 Rossendale 17.672 — — 2.945 3.160 
			 Hyndburn 2.925 — — 0.728 0.976 
			 Sheffield 57.979 — — 0.715 10.955 
			 Pendle 15.260 — — 1.500 4.325 
			 Sefton 33.666 — — 1.545 5.850 
			 Manchester 78.013 — — 1.517 7.361 
			 North Lincolnshire 47.000 — — — 7.680 
			 LB Islington 32.340 — — — 10.400 
			 Castle Morpeth 12.5 — — — 0.700 
			 LB Lewisham 42.2 — — — — 
			 Chester-le-Street 39.0 — — — — 
			  — 7.65 3.76 21.918 70.324

Housing: Planning

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 1 February 2008,  Official Report, column 691-2W, on housing: planning, what record was taken of the views of hon. Members at the briefing held by Government Office North West in December 2001; whether a record of those views was passed to Ministers; what steps have been taken to ensure that the views of hon. Members were accurately recorded; and if she will place a copy of the record in the Library.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 18 February 2008
	The briefing held by Government Office North West in December 2007 was an informal briefing to provide hon. Members with an overview of Housing Growth Point Expressions of Interest, which had been submitted in the North West, and as such no formal record of the meeting was taken. The Government Office North West did note the key issues raised by hon. Members and wrote to all relevant local authority chief executives outlining these. This letter also invited them to engage with, and consult, hon. Members, if they had not already done so. Any specific issues which hon. Members raised relating to individual local authorities were included in letters to relevant chief executives by Government Office North West.

Infrastructure Planning Commission: Wales

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she, other Ministers in her Department, and her officials have had with representatives of  (a) the Welsh Assembly Government and  (b) the Sustainability Committee of the Welsh Assembly on the creation of a new Infrastructure Planning Commission and minimisation of the number of non-departmental public bodies.

John Healey: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of Sate and I have both had discussions about the creation of a new Infrastructure Planning Commission with the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing in the Welsh Assembly Government. I have not had discussions with representatives of the Sustainability Committee of the Welsh Assembly but I have received a copy of their report on the Planning Bill.

Job Creation: Thames Gateway

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of jobs which will be created in the Thames Gateway area which will be taken by people already resident in the area; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Thames Gateway Delivery Plan, launched by the Prime Minister in November 2007, announced that we now expect to see 225, 000 new jobs created in the Thames Gateway area by 2016, significantly more than previous estimates.
	The Government are dedicated to ensuring that existing residents of the Gateway share in the economic benefits of the area's regeneration and are equipped with the skills required to secure the new, high- value jobs being created. The Thames Gateway delivery plan announced a pan- gateway skills plan developed by the Learning and Skills Council to invest £1.6 billion in teaching and learning, and £850 million in new building for further education. The delivery plan also reiterated our commitment to a Thames Gateway guarantee of assured progression, ensuring that every level three course on offer in the Gateway leads directly to entry to a suitable level four course for learners who want to progress further.
	This new employment will therefore benefit both existing and new residents as the Gateway becomes an increasingly attractive place to live. However the precise balance will inevitably depend upon the investment decisions of private sector investors in the Gateway over the next few years.

Multiple Occupation: Foreign Workers

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps the Government has taken on  (a) eviction practices and  (b) temporary homelessness in multi-occupancy housing areas with large migrant worker populations.

Iain Wright: People living in Houses in Multiple Occupation have the same rights and protection as other tenants in the private rented sector. They cannot be asked to move out without adequate notice and cannot usually be evicted without a court order. We have, however, commissioned an independent policy review of the private rented sector, to improve our understanding of the sector and how it is operating, which is due to report in October. Eviction practices is an issue that may well be considered in the context of this review.

Multiple Occupation: Foreign Workers

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps the Government have taken in relation to car usage and parking provision in multi-occupancy housing areas with large migrant worker populations.

Caroline Flint: Local authorities have powers to implement permanent or temporary traffic management or parking controls, and are best placed to do so.
	The Government's Planning Policy Statement 3 "Housing", issued in November 2006, states that local planning authorities should, with stakeholders and communities, develop residential parking policies for their areas, taking account of expected levels of car ownership, the importance of promoting good design and the need to use land efficiently.

Planning: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on the use of section 106 monies at Royal Ordnance, Lancashire.

Iain Wright: The making and implementation of planning obligations (also known as 'Section 106 Agreements'), under the terms of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, are matters for local planning authorities and those with an interest in a piece of land. The Secretary of State would not normally be involved, and in the case referred to she has had no dealings with any of the planning obligations which are in place, and which are recorded, and required to be made available for inspection by the public on the local authority's planning register. She will therefore not be making a statement about the developer contributions agreed in the planning obligations.

Planning: Renewable Energy

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of  (a) the likely impact of allowing for the off-site provision of renewable energy sources in planning decisions on the renewable energy industry and  (b) the ability of off-site provision to contribute to the Government's targets for building zero-carbon houses; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 31 January 2008,  Official Report, column 588W, which explains how our new Planning Policy Statement (PPS) on climate change sets out how local plans should help secure much greater use of local renewable and low-carbon energy in new development. The final PPS is supported by an impact assessment (available on the Department's website).
	'Building a Greener Future' policy statement (available on the Department's website) set out the definition of zero carbon new homes. It recognises that there may be certain circumstances or particular sites where it may be difficult for developers to achieve zero carbon without considering off-site solutions. As new evidence emerges about costs and practicalities, and as technologies develop, we will develop the definition of zero carbon for the purposes of building regulations, after full consultation and within a sensible time frame that will allow the industry to adjust before the planned changes in 2016.

Planning: Renewable Energy

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of how much onsite renewable energy capacity will be delivered in England as a result of the 2016 Zero Carbon Homes initiative in  (a) 2010,  (b) 2013 and  (c) 2016, as referred to in the answer of 29 October 2007,  Official Report, column 681W, on renewable energy.

Caroline Flint: The regulatory impact assessment published alongside 'Building a Greener Future' policy statement in July 2007 (both available on the Department's website) indicates that the requirement to meet the zero carbon standard in new homes from 2016 will result in an additional amount of energy being sourced from renewable sources compared to a scenario without the policy. It also suggests that this additional amount of renewables as a result of the policy could be equivalent to around 1 per cent. of the total UK electricity demand by 2020. The modelling did not disaggregate capacity from on-site renewables.

Property

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will introduce legislation requiring all properties to display a number or name.

Iain Wright: Communities and Local Government has no plans to introduce legislation of this nature.

Rented Housing: Rents

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to announce her decision whether to return to the basic rent restructuring formula with caps and limits or extend rent restructuring to reduce the steepness in the trajectory guideline and actual rent rises.

Caroline Flint: Communities and Local Government consulted on the mechanism for the setting of guideline rents in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) subsidy regime in August. The options consulted on were guideline rents predicated on a rent convergence date of 2011-12, or extending the convergence date to lower annual guideline rent increases. A decision on the preferred option (extending the convergence date to 2016-17, solely for the purpose of calculating guideline rents in the HRA subsidy system for 2008-09) was included in the HRA subsidy determination for 2008-09 which was issued in draft for consultation on 23 November 2007 and in final form on 15 January 2008.

Zero Carbon Homes Taskforce

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the criteria were for deciding on the membership of the Government's Zero Carbon Homes Taskforce; and if she will appoint representatives of providers of affordable housing to the taskforce.

Caroline Flint: We welcome the contribution which providers of affordable housing can make towards our zero carbon homes programme.
	The 2016 Taskforce was established to identify the barriers to implementation of the zero carbon 2016 target, and to put in place measures to address them. Therefore the membership of the Taskforce consists of representatives of the principal industries and stakeholders that have a role to play in achieving this, for example housebuilders, energy companies and local authorities. There are no plans to extend the current membership of the Taskforce.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Alcoholic Drinks: Licensing

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many supermarkets in England and Wales  (a) applied for and  (b) were granted (i) an extension of their alcohol sales licence and (ii) a 24-hour licence in (A) 2006 and (B) 2007.

Gerry Sutcliffe: This information is not held centrally.
	However, DCMS Statistical Bulletin on Alcohol, Entertainment and Late Night Refreshment Licensing, published on 8 November 2007, shows that between April 2006 and March 2007 there were 917 supermarkets and stores with a 24-hour alcohol licence in force on 31 March 2007 in England and Wales (based on 83 per cent. of all licensing authorities).

Archaeology

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff have been employed on the portable antiquities scheme since it started.

Margaret Hodge: The numbers of staff employed on the Portable Antiquities Scheme since it started are as follows:
	
		
			   Scheme status  Full-time staff  Part-time staff  Total staff 
			 1997 Pilot 6 — 6 
			 1998 Pilot 12 — 12 
			 1999 Pilot 12 — 12 
			 2000 Pilot 12 — 12 
			 2001 Pilot 12 — 12 
			 2002 Pilot 12 — 12 
			 2003 National 36 12 48 
			 2004 National 35 13 48 
			 2005 National 35 14 49 
			 2006 National 35 15 50 
			 2007 National 35 15 50 
			 2008 National 35 14 49

Arts Council of England: Bassetlaw

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what information his Department holds on the number of visits made to Bassetlaw constituency by staff of Arts Council England over the last three years.

Margaret Hodge: My Department does not hold this information. The Arts Council have informed me that they do not collect information about visits made by staff to individual constituencies.

Departmental ICT

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many of his Department's personal digital assistants were  (a) lost and  (b) stolen in each of the last five years; and what the value of those items was.

Gerry Sutcliffe: In the past five years the following have been lost or stolen:
	
		
			   Lost  Stolen 
			 2008 0 0 
			 2007 4 0 
			 2006 3 2 
			 2005 0 0 
			 2004 3 1 
			 2003 1 0 
		
	
	My Department does not hold information regarding the value of the items.

Departmental ICT

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many  (a) mobile telephones,  (b) personal digital assistants and  (c) laptop computers issued to departmental staff were reported (i) lost, (ii) missing and (iii) stolen since 2001.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Since 2001 staff in my Department have reported:
	PDA's—15 lost and 7 stolen
	Laptops—1 lost, 1 missing and 2 stolen.
	My Department does not hold this information on mobile telephones.

Departmental Retirement

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many of his Department's staff retired on the grounds of stress-related illness in each of the last three years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The number of staff who retired on the grounds of stress related illness in each of the last three years is nil.
	The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has a legal obligation to provide a safe working environment for all employees and guidance is available for staff and managers on how to manage stress effectively.
	As part of our attendance, health and well being programme for staff we have a range of policies in place to reduce work related stress. These include: stress management policy and sickness absence policy, which includes guidance on making reasonable adjustments. We also offer a full range of flexible work patterns to support work-life balance and have health awareness pages on our Intranet. We have appointed a DCMS Board member as the Health and Well-Being Champion. In addition staff have access to our Employee Assistance Programme (counselling service) and on-site gym with a programme of exercise and yoga available.

Departmental Sick Pay

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost of sickness pay to staff within his Department was in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Gerry Sutcliffe: From the 2006-07 financial year, the average cost of sick pay per staff member who has taken sick leave is £468.
	As part of our attendance, health and well being programme for staff we have a range of policies in place these include: Sickness Absence policy, which includes guidance on making reasonable adjustments. We also offer a full range of flexible work patterns to support work-life balance and have health awareness pages on our intranet We have appointed a DCMS board member as the Health and Well-Being Champion. In addition, staff have access to our Employee Assistance Programme (counselling service).

Film

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what measures are in place to encourage British film companies to collaborate with foreign film companies.

Margaret Hodge: The UK Government currently have active bi-lateral film co-production agreements with Australia, Canada, France, Jamaica, New Zealand and South Africa. The aim of these co-production agreements is to encourage cultural and economic collaboration between film makers from signatory countries.
	The UK has also ratified the European convention on cinematographic co-production, the Council of Europe fund established to promote co-operation among European states in the field of film production. 38 Council of Europe states have signed up to the convention, including all 27 European Union member states. The UK Government are also in the process of negotiating further film co-production agreements with a number of countries including India and Morocco, in order to secure increased inward investment for the UK and encourage communities and cultures in both participating countries to share and develop ideas.

Tourism: North East

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who were involved in work-based training in the tourism sector in the North East in each of the last five years.

Margaret Hodge: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) North East has provided data for each of the last five years on the number of people "starting" and "completing" work-based learning in travel and tourism and in hospitality and catering. This includes apprenticeships and advanced apprenticeships, where the learner gains a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ), and also training in the workplace which results in an NVQ. The LSC has also provided data on the number of people "starting" and "completing" learning through "Train to Gain" since it was rolled out nationally in 2006.
	
		
			  Learners involved in work-based learning in travel and tourism and hospitality and catering in the North East 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Starts 1,641 1,275 898 824 707 
			 Completions 533 495 442 411 447 
			 Percentage completing 32.5 38.8 49.2 49.9 63.2 
		
	
	
		
			  Learners involved in travel and tourism and hospitality and catering through Train to Gain in the North East 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Starts — — — — 794 
			 Completions — — — — 283 
			 % completing — — — — 35.6 
		
	
	People 1st are currently conducting an in-depth analysis of apprenticeships in the sector, which will include an identification of the job roles of apprenticeships, the content of learning and how to improve completion rates. This work will be outlined in an Apprenticeships Strategy in April 2008, and forms part of the industry-led National Skills Strategy for hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism, which my Department actively supports.
	Government have recently committed to a new measurement for apprenticeships. Whereby we measure the number of starts and the number of successful completions. This replaces the historic "Average in Learning" which takes an average of the numbers on an apprenticeship at any point in a given year. Further details about these measurements can be found in the January 2008 report outlining the findings of the Government's Review of Apprenticeships:
	www.dius.gov.uk/publications
	"Train to Gain"—the national skills service for employers—will be vital for work-based learning in the tourism sector and will play a key role in transforming the nation's skills base. In November 2007, Government published a "Train to Gain Plan for Growth", setting out our ambitions on better meeting employer needs. This includes tailoring the service to meet the skills needs of employers in each sector through a sector compact with Sector Skills Councils, including one with People 1st for the tourism sector. My Department is actively involved in supporting this work as part of the sector's National Skills Strategy.

VisitBritain: Finance

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much grant-in-aid his Department provided for VisitBritain in each year since its establishment; and how much he expects his Department to provide to VisitBritain in each of the next three years expressed in 2007-08 prices.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 18 February 2008
	VisitBritain's total allocation of grant in aid, from its establishment in March 2003 to the end of the next spending review period, was (and will be) as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Actual grant-in-aid  At 2007-08 prices 
			 2003-04 47.9 53.4 
			 2004-05 48.4 52.5 
			 2005-06 48.9 51.4 
			 2006-07 49.9 51.5 
			 2007-08 49.9 49.9 
			 2008-09 47.9 46.6 
			 2009-10 45.4 43.0 
			 2010-11 40.9 37.7 
		
	
	The figure for 2006-07 is part of the £350 million invested by the public sector in tourism support, across the UK (based on figures returned to DCMS). Of that £350 million, £101.1 million was central Government funding for VisitBritain and the regional development agencies. Central Government funding for tourism in 1997-98 was £44.7 million.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Deployment

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many servicemen and women are serving in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan.

Bob Ainsworth: As at 18 February 2008, there were 4,100 service personnel in Iraq and 7,100 in Afghanistan.
	The number of personnel in theatre will naturally fluctuate on a daily basis for a variety of reasons, including leave (rest and recuperation), temporary absence for training, evacuation for medical reasons, the roulement of forces and other factors.

Armed Forces: Disciplinary Proceedings

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel were involved in disciplinary or criminal proceedings as a result of  (a) firearms and  (b) other military equipment being sold illegally in each of the last five years.

Bob Ainsworth: Available information is shown in the following tables. Because data are captured using different methods for each of the three services, the definition of the "Firearms" category is not wholly comparable across all three.
	The figures provided are based upon individuals dealt with summarily or by courts-martial. Other military equipment has been considered to be any MOD asset.
	
		
			  Army 
			   Firearms  Other military equipment 
			 2003 0 0 
			 2004 0 2 
			 2005 0 6 
			 2006 2 6 
			 2007 2 0 
		
	
	 Royal Navy
	Information on the illegal selling of 'Other Military Equipment' is not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			   Firearms 
			 2003 0 
			 2004 0 
			 2005 0 
			 2006 0 
			 2007 0 
		
	
	
		
			  Royal Air Force 
			   Firearms  Other military equipment 
			 2003 0 0 
			 2004 0 0 
			 2005 0 0 
			 2006 1 2 
			 2007 0 5 
		
	
	Disciplinary offences by other ranks which were dealt with summarily are not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Foreigners

David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel are citizens of countries other than the UK, broken down by nationality.

Bob Ainsworth: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 18 February 2008,  Official Report, columns 72-73W, to the hon. Member for Westbury (Dr. Murrison).

Armed Forces: Publications

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library copies of the joint service publications  (a) JSP 567,  (b) JSP 584,  (c) JSP 70 and  (d) JSP 712.

Derek Twigg: JSP 567 (Contractor Support to Operations (CSO): Policy Overview) is currently being considered for release and a version will be available shortly. I have placed copies of JSP 584 (New Financial Assistance Regulations for Reservists and their employers) and JSP 712 (Working with databases) in the Library of the House. JSP 712 provided guidance on working with databases for all the IT systems that were currently in use in 2001. With the advent of the Defence Information Infrastructure (DII) in 2005, no further updates were made to existing IT systems or applications and the decision was made to mothball JSP 712.
	JSP 70 is not recognised as a JSP document.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Departmental Vehicles

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  how many vehicles were  (a) owned and  (b) purchased by (i) the Cabinet Office, (ii) No. 10 Downing street in each of the last 10 years; and how many were (A) owned and (B) purchased by the Office of the Minister for the Olympics since its establishment;
	(2)  how many  (a) parking tickets and  (b) speeding fines were issued for vehicles used by the (i) Cabinet Office and (ii) Prime Minister's Office in each of the last 10 years; and what the cost to the public purse of such penalties was in each year.

Tom Watson: The Information requested is not separately identified in the Cabinet Office Resource Accounting System and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. In respect of vehicles provided by the Government Car and Despatch Agency, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Jim Fitzpatrick) on 5 February 2008,  Official Report, column 1008W.

National Security Committee

David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on how many occasions the National Security Committee has met since it was formed; and what the purpose was of each of those meetings.

Edward Miliband: The Ministerial Committee on National Security, International Relations and Development (NSID), and its sub-committees, exist to consider issues relating to national security, and the Government's international, European and international development policies. Details of these Committees' membership and terms of reference are available in the Library of the House or can be viewed at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/secretariats/committees/nsid.aspx
	It is established practice that information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including the number of meetings held and topics discussed, is not disclosed.

National Security Committee

David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in which department or office the support staff of the National Security Committee is based; how many staff support the Committee; and from which budget they are funded.

Edward Miliband: Like all Cabinet Committees, the Ministerial Committee on National Security, International Relations and Development (NSID) and its sub-committees are supported by a small secretariat within the Cabinet Office. Departments across Government are involved in supporting the work of NSID and its sub-committees.

National Security: Departmental Responsibilities

David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the responsibilities of the  (a) Home Department,  (b) Foreign and Commonwealth Office,  (c) Ministry of Defence,  (d) Department for Communities and Local Government,  (e) Department for International Development and  (f) Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform will be under the forthcoming National Security Strategy.

Edward Miliband: The National Security Strategy will cover the responsibilities of a wide range of Departments, including those identified.

National Security: Ministerial Responsibility

David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster who the lead Minister is with responsibility for the National Security Strategy.

Edward Miliband: The National Security Strategy is overseen by the Ministerial Committee on National Security, International Relations and Development, which includes Ministers from key departments and is chaired by the Prime Minister.

National Security: Public Participation

David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what further consultations are planned before the National Security Strategy is published.

Edward Miliband: The Cabinet Office has discussed the National Security Strategy with a number of individuals and organisations and is continuing to do so prior to its publication.

National Security: Publications

David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when the National Security Strategy will be published.

Edward Miliband: The National Security Strategy will be published shortly.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Bulls

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2008,  Official Report, column 1278W, on bulls, in what way his Department has supported the Beyond Calf Export forum; and what resources have been committed to such support for 2008-09.

Jonathan R Shaw: DEFRA officials and Ministers have played an active role in the work of the Beyond Calf Export forum, whose report has recently been published.
	Forum stakeholders will now be working within their sectors of the farming and food industry to establish commercially viable alternatives to calf exports. Those alternatives are not dependent on Government intervention but, as recognised in the report, DEFRA and other authorities have a role facilitating collaboration. A further meeting of the forum is planned for June 2008 to review progress. DEFRA will be taking a keen interest in that progress and will facilitate collaboration if it is needed. No specific financial resource has been allocated for this.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Aral Sea

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2008,  Official Report, columns 1160-61W, on the Aral Sea, what representations he has made to the Uzbekistan government on the effect of irrigation for cotton farms in Uzbekistan on the Aral Sea.

Jim Murphy: Our ambassador in Tashkent discussed issues relating to cotton, including irrigation and the Aral sea, when he called on Mr. Elyor Ganiev, Uzbek Minister for Foreign Economic Relations, on 17 January 2008. Our ambassador has also discussed cotton irrigation and the Aral sea with Professor Victor Dukhovny, the Uzbek Government representative at the Interstate Commission for Saving the Aral Sea. Professor Dukhovny advises the Uzbek Government on these and other related topics regarding the Aral sea.

Botswana: Human Rights

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations his Department has made to the Botswana government on the Botswana High Court ruling in December 2006 that the Botswana government had illegally removed Kalahari bushmen from their tribal lands; and whether his Department has received recent reports on the Botswana government's response to this ruling.

Meg Munn: My right hon. Friend the then Minister for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs (Mr. McCartney), raised the court ruling with President Mogae of Botswana when he visited in June 2007. Our high commissioner in Gaborone followed this up by raising it with both the Botswana Vice President and the Foreign Minister. Since then our high commission in Gaborone, working closely with EU partners, has maintained regular contact with the Government of Botswana on the issue of the San community. We continue to encourage the Government of Botswana to take an inclusive approach to finding a sustainable solution to the future use of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, underlining the importance of dialogue and negotiation with the San (Bushmen).
	Our high commission is in regular contact with representatives of the San Community and non-governmental organisations, through whom they receive assessments on the implementation of the court ruling.

Egypt: Religious Freedom

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made on behalf of Egyptian citizens on trial for apostasy in that country.

Kim Howells: We regularly raise a range of human rights issues with the Egyptian government, including concerns about freedom of religion. I did so directly with the visiting Speaker of the Egyptian Parliament on 21 January 2008. Although there are no plans for my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary to raise with the Egyptian government the specific subject of Egyptian citizens on trial for apostasy, we will continue to raise such concerns at other levels.
	We welcome the recent decision of the Supreme Administrative Court in Egypt which ruled that Christians who converted to Islam were entitled to convert back to Christianity without adverse consequence.

Foreign Workers: Doctors

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many foreign doctors were granted visas in  (a) 2007 and  (b) each of the last 10 years.

Kim Howells: This information is not readily available and could be obtained only by examining individual application forms and this would incur disproportionate cost.

Iran: Religious Freedom

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Iranian authorities in respect of the Iranian government's proposed Bill for Islamic penal law, with particular reference to section 5 and those of non-Muslim faiths.

Kim Howells: We are aware that a new draft Islamic penal code is currently being considered by the Iranian Parliament. We have concerns about this draft law; in particular the provisions set out in section five in relation to apostasy, heresy and witchcraft, which stipulate that these offences should be punishable by death. If the draft is adopted, it would be the first time that the death penalty is set down in Iran's criminal law for apostasy. We are concerned that these articles would constitute a violation of Iran's international human rights obligations, such as the right to freedom of religion and belief, and the provision that in countries that retain death penalty, the sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes. We are particularly concerned about the impact the new law, if adopted, would have on non-Muslim faiths in Iran. We are following developments closely and are currently discussing with our EU partners what representations to make on this matter.

Iran: Religious Freedom

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department has taken to encourage the Iranian authorities to protect the freedom of belief of the Baha'i community in Iran.

Kim Howells: The Government remain very concerned by the situation of the Baha'i community in Iran. The Baha'i faith is not recognised as an official minority religion under the Iranian Constitution and Iranian Baha'is face systematic discrimination and persecution. We regularly raise our concerns about the treatment of Baha'is with the Iranian authorities, bilaterally and through the EU. On 22 January, the EU presidency, with strong UK support, raised specific concerns about the treatment of the Baha'i community in Iran during a meeting with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In this meeting the EU expressed opposition to all forms of discrimination, in particular regarding freedom of religion. Most recently, on 7 February, the EU presidency issued a public statement expressing concern about the deteriorating situation of the Baha'i minority. We have also taken action at the UN; in December 2007 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution about the human rights situation in Iran. The resolution, which was co-sponsored by the UK and all other EU member states, expressed very serious concern about increasing discrimination against religious minorities in Iran and the situation of the Baha'is in particular. We will continue to urge the Iranian authorities to uphold the right to freedom of religion and belief as described in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party.

Kenya: Politics and Government

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the impact on the Kenyan economy of the political situation in that country.

Meg Munn: Various reports have shown that the current conflict has already created significant impact on the Kenyan economy and this is likely to deteriorate further. Members of the federation of Kenyan employers are reporting losses of £1.6 billion. The Kenya Private Sector Alliance, representing most major businesses, has estimated that 400,000 jobs have been lost and economic growth is expected to slow to 4 per cent. Inflation is set to rise and the tourism industry has been crippled. The agriculture sector has also been heavily affected, which will also have long term effects on Kenya's economy.
	We are working with our partners to address the humanitarian situation. The Department for International Development programme is under review. Future levels and modes of aid delivery will depend on the extent to which a political solution can be achieved, that addresses the underlying causes of the conflict and provides lasting solutions.

Kenya: Politics and Government

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department plans to encourage the Kenyan political community to reach a political settlement through the use of sanctions; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: The current focus is on restoring stability to Kenya through political dialogue and agreement. We continue to fully support Kofi Annan and his panel of Eminent Persons. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's statement on 13 February urged Kenya's leaders to set aside entrenched positions and resolve to find a way forward through dialogue, negotiation and compromise. Individuals who stand in the way of progress will have to face the consequences. The Government have not ruled out any options if no progress is made in the talks.
	The possibility of the use of such measures was also discussed at the EU's General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels on 18 February.

Kosovo: European Union

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution the Government are making to the European Union's judicial and policing mission to Kosovo; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: The UK fully supports the European Security and Defence Policy Policing and Rule of Law mission to Kosovo, and plans to second approximately 70 police and civilian personnel to it. The common costs of the mission are funded from the Common Foreign and Security Policy budget, to which the UK contributes 17 per cent.

Overseas Residence: Prisoners

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what  (a) powers he has and  (b) actions are open to him to take to secure the freedom of a UK national abducted by a regime which has expressed the intent of inflicting cruel and inhuman treatment upon him; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: The UK provides consular assistance to British nationals in difficulty abroad in accordance with the Government's consular policy, which can be found in the document "Support for British Nationals Abroad: A Guide", also available at www.fco.gov.uk/travel.

Sudan: Peacekeeping Operations

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial contribution the Government are making to the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur.

Meg Munn: All members of the UN will fund the UN-African Union hybrid peacekeeping force in Darfur (UNAMID) through their assessed contributions. The budget for UNAMID, agreed in December 2007, is US$1.28 billion for 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008. The UK's share of the assessed costs for this budget is just under 8 per cent.

HEALTH

Accident and Emergency Departments: Admissions

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what research has been undertaken since June 2007 into the causes of the increase in emergency readmissions to hospital, particularly for people over 75 years of age;
	(2)  what research has been undertaken since June 2007 into rates of emergency re-admission to hospital, particularly for people over 75 years of age.

Ben Bradshaw: In 2007 the Department commissioned the National Centre for Health Outcomes Development (NCHOD) to analyse trends in hospital re-admission rates and identify the most likely main causal factors.
	The NCHOD study examined a large number of potential causes but the findings were inconclusive and their interim report in August 2007 recommended that further more detailed studies were required. A copy of this report will be placed in the Library shortly.
	The Department is currently undertaking further analysis and has committed to share final results of this work with the Health Select Committee.

Agency Nurses

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS spent on the employment of agency nurses in each of the last three years.

Ann Keen: The information requested is set out in the following table:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2004-05 400 
			 2005-06 321 
			 2006-07 193 
			  Notes:  1. Trust Financial returns (TFR3B), primary care trust financial returns (PFR3B) and Strategic Health Authority financial returns (HFR25B)  2. Information on agency staff spend by Staff Group is not collected from foundation trusts (FTs). The number of FTs differs for each year. As at 31 March there were 25, 32 and 59 FTs in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 respectively.

Antidepressants: Suicide

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of those who committed suicide were taking prescribed anti-depressant medication at the time of death from 1997 to 2007.

Ivan Lewis: This information is not held centrally.

Breast Cancer: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many breast cancer screenings there were in Essex in each of the last five years.

Ann Keen: There are three breast-screening units in Essex: Colchester and Chelmsford, Epping and South Essex (Southend). The most recent year for which data are available is 2005-06.
	The numbers of women aged 45 and over screened at each unit in each of the last five years for which data are available are set out in the following table. While the national breast screening programme targets women aged 50 to 70 there are some women in the age range 45 to 49 who are invited to be screened, the majority of whom are women aged 49 who have been called for their first routine screening a few months early.
	
		
			  Number of women aged 45 and over screened at Colchester and Chelmsford, Epping and South Essex (Southend) breast screening units in each of the last five years for which information is available 
			   Number of women screened 
			  Breast Screening Unit  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Colchester and Chelmsford 20,579 21,966 20,121 23,684 28,221 
			 Epping(1) 13,703 15,601 15,078 8,143 814 
			 South Essex (Southend) 15,386 16,422 17,538 18,321 20,936 
			 Total 49,668 53,989 52,737 50,148 49,971 
			  Note : Screening at Epping Breast Screening Unit (which covers West Essex) was suspended between November 2004 and January 2006.  Source: KC62 (Part 1, Tables A to F2): NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

Capita

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was paid by his Department to Capita Group plc and its subsidiaries in each financial year since 2000; which contracts were awarded by his Department to Capita Group plc in each year since 2000-01 to the most recent available date; what the cost was of each contract; what penalties for default were imposed in contract provisions; what the length was of each contract; whether the contract was advertised; how many companies applied for the contract; how many were short-listed; what criteria were used for choosing a company; what provision was made for renewal without re-tender in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department does not currently hold individual contract details in the format requested. To do so would attract disproportionate cost. However, a new system will be introduced in April 2008 called SHOWA, which will be able to gather future information of this nature for the Department.
	Details of the amount paid to Capita and its subsidiaries by the Department from 2004 are set out as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2004-05 980,447 
			 2005-06 1,997,939 
			 2006-07 1,865,918 
			 2007 to date 1,460,316 
		
	
	The expenditure relates to payments recorded in the Department's integrated financial information system and credited against Capita Group plc or its subsidiaries. The records used to provide this information only go back as far as the beginning of 2004. To try to retrieve earlier details would attract a disproportionate cost, as these data are archived and not easily accessible.

Care Homes

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the consistency of methodology used in compiling continuing care statistics in England; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 21 February 2008
	 Information on continuing healthcare is collected from primary care trusts as part of the local delivery plan return process. From this financial year the data are being collected quarterly, prior to this date the collection was annual. When this change to the frequency of the collection was made, the data definition for continuing care was also clarified. These changes were made to improve data quality and better monitor the implementation of the "National Framework for Continuing Healthcare and National Health Service-funded Nursing Care".

Care Homes

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects of the new care assessment tool for determining whether patients receive NHS continuing healthcare on the number receiving such care; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 21 February 2008
	 The "National Framework for Continuing Healthcare and National Health Service funded Nursing Care" was implemented on 1 October 2007 and it is too soon to conclusively gauge its impact. We will review the Framework and the decision support tool in September 2008.

Care Homes

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people received continuing care  (a) in total and  (b) per 50,000 of population in each primary care trust area in England in each quarter of 2007.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 21 February 2008
	The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Continuing care, England 
			Number of people receiving continuing care in 2007  Number of people receiving continuing care population per 50,000 population 
			  Org code  Organisation  Q4 2006-07  Q1 2007-08  Q2 2007-08  Q3 2007-08  Q4 2006-07  Q1 2007-08  Q2 2007-08  Q3 2007-08 
			  England 30,975 24,952 27,619 29,092 30.51 24.68 27.32 28.78 
			   
			 5HG Ashton, Leigh and Wigan Primary Care Trust (PCT) 107 126 57 68 17.51 20.89 9.45 11.27 
			 5C2 Barking and Dagenham PCT 231 96 255 271 69.71 29.24 77.66 82.53 
			 5A9 Barnet PCT 121 242 770 284 18.41 36.59 116.43 42.94 
			 5JE Barnsley PCT 36 51 53 65 8.05 11.07 11.50 14.10 
			 SET Bassetlaw PCT 17 17 17 23 7.63 7.99 7.99 10.81 
			 5FL Bath and North East Somerset PCT 387 158 185 248 110.18 43.08 50.45 67.63 
			 5P2 Bedfordshire PCT 159 172 163 170 19.68 21.13 20.02 20.88 
			 5QG Berkshire East PCT 285 71 252 245 37.27 9.35 33.18 32.26 
			 5QF Berkshire West PCT 222 268 275 241 24.92 29.79 30.57 26.79 
			 TAK Bexley Care Trust 95 127 100 148 21.44 30.23 23.80 35.22 
			 5PG Birmingham East and North PCT 182 147 191 182 22.97 18.54 24.09 22.96 
			 5CC Blackburn with Darwen PCT 47 49 44 45 16.64 16.20 14.55 14.88 
			 5HP Blackpool PCT 59 55 52 68 20.67 19.59 18.52 24.22 
			 5HQ Bolton PCT 79 119 119 181 15.05 22.66 22.66 34.47 
			 5QN Bournemouth and Poole PCT 77 146 219 219 12.92 22.98 34.47 34.47 
			 5NY Bradford and Airedale PCT 94 166 187 240 9.53 16.83 18.95 24.33 
			 5K5 Brent Teaching PCT 300 583 199 156 55.26 103.74 35.41 27.76 
			 5LQ Brighton and Hove City PCT 246 156 135 112 48.92 30.35 26.26 21.79 
			 5QJ Bristol PCT 127 86 123 110 15.47 10.18 14.56 13.02 
			 5A7 Bromley PCT 115 168 159 199 19.22 27.83 26.33 32.96 
			 5QD Buckinghamshire PCT 700 0 224 295 69.90 — 22.68 29.87 
			 5JX Bury PCT 26 22 27 28 7.11 6.06 7.44 7.71 
			 5J6 Calderdale PCT 52 77 72 98 13.10 19.36 18.10 24.64 
			 5PP Cambridgeshire PCT 174 174 204 189 14.76 15.28 17.92 16.60 
			 5K7 Camden PCT 166 166 129 129 36.49 36.08 28.04 28.04 
			 5NP Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT 163 100 169 188 18.07 11.27 19.04 21.19 
			 5NG Central Lancashire PCT 192 206 214 224 21.25 23.50 24.41 25.56 
			 5C3 City and Hackney Teaching PCT 120 175 234 221 27.76 39.41 52.69 49.76 
			 5QP Cornwall and Isles of Scilly PCT 313 541 450 412 29.73 51.96 43.22 39.57 
			 5ND County Durham PCT 847 517 540 533 84.58 51.15 53.43 52.74 
			 5MD Coventry Teaching PCT 117 836 759 568 19.08 129.63 117.69 88.07 
			 5K9 Croydon PCT 214 215 237 263 31.75 32.35 35.66 39.57 
			 5NE Cumbria PCT 264 140 113 95 26.60 13.97 11.28 9.48 
			 5J9 Darlington PCT 95 63 79 98 47.81 32.29 40.49 50.23 
			 5N7 Derby City PCT 7 152 105 136 1.48 28.25 19.52 25.28 
			 5N6 Derbyshire County PCT 77 218 218 398 5.34 15.80 15.80 28.85 
			 5QQ Devon PCT 307 227 382 492 20.72 15.70 26.43 34.04 
			 5N5 Doncaster PCT 460 153 164 348 79.23 26.15 28.03 59.48 
			 5QM Dorset PCT 166 42 297 497 20.59 5.54 39.18 65.56 
			 5PE Dudley PCT 272 277 291 296 44.55 45.92 48.24 49.07 
			 5HX Ealing PCT 74 77 84 80 12.08 12.04 13.13 12.50 
			 5P3 East and North Hertfordshire PCT 362 285 244 250 34.29 26.11 22.35 22.90 
			 5NH East Lancashire PCT 130 116 117 135 16.89 15.51 15.64 18.05 
			 5NW East Riding of Yorkshire PCT 98 35 36 45 14.81 5.78 5.95 7.43 
			 5P7 East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT 211 181 151 151 31.96 27.82 23.21 23.21 
			 5QA Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT 692 329 304 319 48.02 23.17 21.41 22.47 
			 5C1 Enfield PCT 160 168 189 209 28.04 31.40 35.33 39.07 
			 5KF Gateshead PCT 131 116 115 108 34.39 29.87 29.62 27.81 
			 5QH Gloucestershire PCT 68 61 62 65 5.88 5.30 5.39 5.65 
			 5PR Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT 44 43 42 73 10.47 9.79 9.57 16.63 
			 5A8 Greenwich Teaching PCT 152 135 166 154 34.14 29.34 36.07 33.46 
			 5NM Halton and St. Helens PCT 126 100 125 165 21.21 16.44 20.55 27.12 
			 5H1 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT 134 94 90 76 39.09 27.75 26.57 22.44 
			 5QC Hampshire PCT 1,106 1,076 1,095 1,339 43.68 43.91 44.69 54.64 
			 5C9 Haringey Teaching PCT 43 185 180 182 9.53 38.93 37.88 38.30 
			 5K6 Harrow PCT 826 306 310 290 192.48 77.16 78.16 73.12 
			 5D9 Hartlepool PCT 146 152 158 148 80.10 83.61 86.91 81.41 
			 5P8 Hastings and Rother PCT 89 56 59 62 25.27 16.40 17.28 18.16 
			 5A4 Havering PCT 316 316 199 168 69.50 66.94 42.15 35.59 
			 5MX Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT 77 61 65 77 14.19 10.81 11.52 13.65 
			 5CN Herefordshire PCT 27 52 72 94 7.59 14.91 20.64 26.95 
			 5NQ Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT 75 82 36 86 18.16 20.08 8.81 21.05 
			 5AT Hillingdon PCT 341 290 339 377 68.21 60.40 70.61 78.52 
			 5HY Hounslow PCT 276 294 296 299 63.13 66.72 67.17 67.85 
			 5NX Hull PCT 98 168 68 66 19.12 30.10 12.18 11.82 
			 5QT Isle of Wight NHS PCT 175 57 67 116 63.16 20.79 24.44 42.31 
			 5K8 Islington PCT 45 127 96 78 12.13 34.32 25.94 21.08 
			 5LA Kensington and Chelsea PCT 122 140 118 128 34.27 37.05 31.23 33.87 
			 5A5 Kingston PCT 71 71 64 58 22.77 20.93 18.87 17.10 
			 5N2 Kirklees PCT 514 125 120 141 64.54 16.06 15.42 18.12 
			 5J4 Knowsley PCT 53 56 66 128 17.51 18.52 21.83 42.33 
			 5LD Lambeth PCT 77 120 135 126 14.16 20.87 23.48 21.91 
			 5N1 Leeds PCT 570 520 576 666 37.99 34.37 38.07 44.02 
			 5PC Leicester City PCT 114 103 104 113 19.68 16.83 17.00 18.47 
			 5PA Leicestershire County and Rutland PCT 243 187 220 237 18.04 14.64 17.22 18.55 
			 5LF Lewisham PCT 276 113 149 13 53.98 22.12 29.17 25.45 
			 5N9 Lincolnshire PCT 1,048 431 301 30 76.09 31.12 21.73 21.73 
			 5NL Liverpool PCT 190 225 258 25 21.79 25.30 29.01 29.01 
			 5GC Luton PCT 223 130 133 10 59.70 35.43 36.25 28.89 
			 5NT Manchester PCT 129 128 163 216 14.27 13.33 16.98 22.50 
			 5L3 Medway PCT 81 117 155 149 16.09 22.11 29.29 28.16 
			 5PX Mid Essex PCT 918 273 94 94 126.92 38.70 13.33 13.33 
			 5KM Middlesbrough PCT 93 88 96 121 33.59 30.58 33.36 42.05 
			 5CQ Milton Keynes PCT 61 63 64 62 13.24 13.71 13.92 13.49 
			 5D7 Newcastle PCT 120 66 66 66 22.18 12.70 12.70 12.70 
			 5C5 Newham PCT 122 55 273 294 24.56 10.85 53.85 57.99 
			 5PQ Norfolk PCT 269 233 262 301 18.20 16.30 18.32 21.05 
			 5PW North East Essex PCT 54 56 63 89 8.56 8.98 10.10 14.27 
			 5AN North East Lincolnshire PCT 160 99 106 111 49.94 30.16 32.29 33.82 
			 5NF North Lancashire PCT 198 246 197 200 30.09 37.88 30.33 30.79 
			 5EF North Lincolnshire PCT 17 60 79 82 5.48 19.01 25.03 25.98 
			 5M8 North Somerset PCT 85 34 66 86 21.10 8.56 16.63 21.66 
			 5PH North Staffordshire PCT 150 121 129 264 35.51 29.69 31.65 64.78 
			 5E1 North Tees PCT 100 96 187 132 26.44 25.61 49.89 35.22 
			 5D8 North Tyneside PCT 76 102 115 137 19.48 25.11 28.31 33.73 
			 5NV North Yorkshire and York PCT 211 245 232 232 13.47 16.07 15.22 15.22 
			 5PD Northamptonshire PCT 328 397 397 421 24.51 30.46 30.46 32.30 
			 TAC Northumberland Care Trust 204 213 239 214 32.92 34.32 38.51 34.48 
			 5EM Nottingham City PCT 72 87 104 133 12.57 14.39 17.20 22.00 
			 5N8 Nottinghamshire County PCT 142 212 251 280 10.80 16.64 19.70 21.98 
			 5J5 Oldham PCT 89 122 123 196 20.27 27.44 27.66 44.08 
			 5QE Oxfordshire PCT 193 145 224 205 15.89 11.91 18.40 16.84 
			 5PN Peterborough PCT 70 123 75 56 21.44 41.12 25.07 18.72 
			 5F1 Plymouth Teaching PCT 100 100 224 334 20.15 20.19 45.23 67.44 
			 5FE Portsmouth City Teaching PCT 357 190 192 208 90.90 47.89 48.40 52.43 
			 5NA Redbridge PCT 135 138 159 156 26.79 29.09 33.51 32.88 
			 5QR Redcar and Cleveland PCT 49 58 53 53 17.56 21.82 19.94 19.94 
			 5M6 Richmond and Twickenham PCT 265 104 102 102 73.81 30.16 29.58 29.58 
			 5H8 Rotherham PCT 61 82 95 107 12.04 16.82 19.49 21.95 
			 5F5 Salford PCT 66 35 40 97 15.14 7.88 9.00 21.83 
			 5PF Sandwell PCT 333 333 333 63 57.90 55.37 55.37 10.47 
			 5NJ Sefton PCT 132 131 145 148 23.79 24.14 26.72 27.28 
			 5N4 Sheffield PCT 123 99 126 176 11.70 9.34 11.89 16.61 
			 5M2 Shropshire County PCT 80 80 80 280 13.83 14.10 14.10 49.36 
			 TAM Solihull Care Trust 110 125 134 135 27.10 30.46 32.65 32.89 
			 SQL Somerset PCT 311 120 145 188 29.98 11.79 14.25 18.47 
			 5M1 South Birmingham PCT 151 76 82 101 22.26 10.97 11.84 14.58 
			 5P1 South East Essex PCT 298 111 169 174 45.21 16.84 25.63 26.39 
			 5A3 South Gloucestershire PCT 168 77 98 91 33.02 16.04 20.41 18.95 
			 5PK South Staffordshire PCT 298 195 230 280 24.68 16.79 19.81 24.11 
			 5KG South Tyneside PCT 156 156 129 118 51.65 51.68 42.73 39.09 
			 5PY South West Essex PCT 142 67 132 128 18.28 8.50 16.74 16.23 
			 5L1 Southampton City PCT 275 275 275 220 60.14 56.55 56.55 45.24 
			 5LE Southwark PCT 65 119 169 168 12.07 23.53 33.42 33.22 
			 5F7 Stockport PCT 73 82 89 89 13.01 14.58 15.83 15.83 
			 5PJ Stoke On Trent PCT 78 133 133 139 15.75 25.72 25.72 26.88 
			 5PT Suffolk PCT 57 49 64 94 4.87 4.21 5.50 8.08 
			 5KL Sunderland Teaching PCT 492 203 203 286 87.67 37.01 37.01 52.14 
			 5P5 Surrey PCT 355 388 582 513 16.54 18.30 27.45 24.19 
			 5M7 Sutton and Merton PCT 371 187 192 221 48.54 24.91 25.57 29.43 
			 5K3 Swindon PCT 62 54 61 57 16.10 14.25 16.09 15.04 
			 5LH Tameside and Glossop PCT 146 103 115 159 29.45 22.85 25.51 35.27 
			 5MK Telford and Wrekin PCT 155 180 206 249 47.87 55.85 63.92 77.26 
			 TAL Torbay Care Trust 130 130 149 189 48.80 47.04 53.91 68.38 
			 5C4 Tower Hamlets PCT 57 74 74 64 13.39 17.45 17.45 15.09 
			 5NR Trafford PCT 71 56 63 60 16.76 13.36 15.03 14.31 
			 5N3 Wakefield District PCT 203 159 196 186 31.60 23.90 29.46 27.96 
			 5M3 Walsall Teaching PCT 88 47 234 272 17.29 9.41 46.85 54.46 
			 5NC Waltham Forest PCT 107 109 109 118 24.13 23.96 23.96 25.94 
			 5LG Wandsworth PCT 412 59 79 81 73.85 10.64 14.24 14.60 
			 5J2 Warrington PCT 135 105 105 89 34.79 27.40 27.40 23.23 
			 5PM Warwickshire PCT 334 311 387 393 31.98 30.36 37.78 38.37 
			 5PV West Essex PCT 86 90 95 74 15.64 17.32 18.29 14.24 
			 5P4 West Hertfordshire PCT 333 290 238 265 31.37 27.20 22.33 24.86 
			 5P9 West Kent PCT 152 305 278 318 11.47 23.23 21.17 24.22 
			 5P6 West Sussex PCT 687 365 494 293 44.57 23.74 32.14 19.06 
			 5NN Western Cheshire PCT 133 93 94 90 28.27 19.00 19.21 18.39 
			 5LC Westminster PCT 136 239 249 191 29.33 51.48 53.64 41.14 
			 5QK Wiltshire PCT 684 135 266 285 76.22 15.67 30.88 33.09 
			 5NK Wirral PCT 163 70 107 78 26.19 11.26 17.21 12.55 
			 5MV Wolverhampton City PCT 147 127 143 181 31.06 26.69 30.06 38.04 
			 5PL Worcestershire PCT 270 270 270 203 24.41 24.86 24.86 18.69 
			  Notes: 1. The data shown above are for the calendar year 2007. 2. 5AN North East Lincolnshire PCT changed to a care trust to form TAN North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus in 2007, data shown above for 5AN has been mapped to TAN for Q2 2007-08 and Q3 2007-08. 3. Buckinghamshire PCT did not supply continuing care data in Q1 2007-08. 4. Note that the figures for Q1-Q3 2007-08 were collected as quarterly figures. The figure used for Q4 2006-07 was collected as a year end snapshot, but therefore also gives the position at the end of Q4 2006-07.  Source: Department of Health form: Local Delivery Plan Return Commissioner; Office for National Statistics mid-year population estimates each year

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to increase the take-up rate of cervical screening; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: Women invited to participate in the national health service cervical screening programme need to understand the potential benefits and harms in doing so and to be able to make an informed choice about whether or not they wish to take part in the programme.
	This is why all eligible women receive a national information leaflet on cervical screening, Cervical Screening - The Facts. This leaflet is included with each screening invitation and contains comprehensive and understandable information about cervical screening. It is available at:
	www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/cervical/publications/in-04.html
	The cancer reform strategy noted concerns about the fall in the number of young women taking up their invitation to be screened. That is why the NHS cancer screening programme have commissioned the Improvement Foundation to undertake work at a local level targeting this age group. The lessons learned from this work, due in 2009, will be shared with strategic health authorities and local screening programmes to develop best practice.
	The NHS cancer screening programmes' press office is developing an information pack to be issued to all local screening programmes and also developing a public relations strategy, including articles in appropriate media publications, posters etc. In addition, Cancer Research UK have commissioned research on this issue, which we will monitor closely and will share the findings.
	Continued local action in this area is also essential and we will continue to monitor levels of cervical screening coverage through the office for national statistics/information centre annual cervical screening statistical bulletin.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the special advisers employed in his Department since 6 May 1997; and what the  (a) start and  (b) end date of employment was in each case.

Ben Bradshaw: Since 2003, the Government have published on an annual basis the names and numbers of special advisers in each pay band. For the most recent information I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister on 22 November 2007,  Official Report, 147-50WS.
	Information on the employment of special advisers prior to 2003 was provided at regular intervals and is available in the Library.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2008,  Official Report, column 1689W, on departmental public expenditure, what the minor claims which were abandoned on value for money grounds were; and what the value of each such claim was.

Ben Bradshaw: Details of the minor claims abandoned on value for money grounds in 2006-07 are listed in the following tables.
	 National health service estates service charges
	A number of service charges made to health centres around the country became uncollectible as a result of re-organisations and doubt over the validity of the charges.
	
		
			   £ 
			 Eastleigh Health Centre 59.20 
			 Eastleigh Health Centre 81.28 
			 Kingsclere Medical Practice 1,072.19 
			 Alton Health Centre 1,172.14 
			 Kingsclere Medical Practice 1,894.60 
			 The Friarsgate Practice 2,029.72 
			 Kingsclere Dental Practice 2,116.15 
			 Bramblys Grange Health Centre 2,215.67 
			 Church Grange Health Centre 3,358.26 
			 Kingsclere Medical Practice 4,283.40 
			 Eastleigh Health Centre 4,372.32 
			 Bramblys Grange Health Centre 4,394.59 
			 Bramblys Grange Health Centre 5,417.35 
			 Eastleigh Health Centre 6,384.55 
			 Eastleigh Health Centre 8,765.99 
			 Southampton City PCT re Eastleigh H C 10,860.84 
			 Eastleigh Health Centre 12,200.11 
		
	
	 NHS estates capital charges
	A number of capital charges made to individuals around the country became uncollectible as a result of doubt over the validity of the charges. These invoices were subsequently found to have been raised in error.
	
		
			   £ 
			 A. Harrison 4,099.44 
			 Mr. P. Hawkins 101.06 
			 H. Leong 1,149.00 
			 Miss O'Braithwaite 132.94 
			 Mr. O. Brathwaite 3,091.12 
		
	
	 NHS Live
	Over 320 organisations participated in the NHS Live events and were invoiced for their contributions.
	24 cases valuing almost £28,000 were successfully challenged by the organisations and the outstanding amount was written off by the Department.
	
		
			   Amount (£) 
			 South and East Dorset Primary Care Trust (PCT) 1,000.00 
			 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust 1,000.00 
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (FT) 1,000.00 
			 James Paget University Hospitals NHS FT 1,000.00 
			 South Devon Health Care NHS FT 1,000.00 
			 London Ambulance Service NHS Trust 1,000.00 
			 Salisbury Health Care NHS Trust 1,000.00 
			 The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Trust 1,000.00 
			 University Hospital of South Manchester NHS FT 1,000.00 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital 1,000.00 
			 Suffolk West PCT 1,000.00 
			 Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust 1,000.00 
			 Enfield PCT 1,000.00 
			 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS FT 1,000.00 
			 Mid Hampshire PCT 1,000.00 
			 Isle of Wight council 1,000.00 
			 Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS FT 1,000.00 
			 Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust 1,000.00 
			 Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust 1,000.00 
			 North and East Devon Community 1,000.00 
			 Brent PCT 1,000.00 
			 East Kent NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust 1,000.00 
			 East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust 1,000.00 
			 BUPA Healthcare Professionals 4,876.25 
		
	
	 Other minor claims
	In the normal course of business and following exhaustive credit control methods, including reminder letters, statements, and telephone calls, the following outstanding debts were written off with agreement from the relevant budget manager in the Department.
	
		
			   £ 
			 Care Services Improvement Partnership 0.10 
			 National Public Health 4.00 
			 Annette Craze 40.00 
			 South Western Deanery 60.00 
			 South Western Deanery 60.00 
			 University of Liverpool 80.00 
			 Pharmacia and UpJohn 100.00 
			 Al Security 111.62 
			 Monitor 120.00 
			 Monitor 120.00 
			 Monitor 120.00 
			 Workforce Development Unit 192.29 
			 British Beer & Pub Association 224.99 
			 Graham Howard 250.00 
			 Health Improvement Strategy Division 260.00 
			 Imaginary Films 2000 Ltd 822.50 
			 North West SHA 1,596.00 
			 Judith Adams 1,672.40 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority 1,797.00 
			 Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust 1,911.00

Departmental Telephone Services

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much revenue was generated by each  (a) 0845 and  (b) 0870 telephone code used for customer inquiry lines by his Department's agencies in each of the last five years.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department's two agencies, the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency do not use 0845 or 0870 telephone numbers.

Disabled: Norwich

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will break down by  (a) age group and  (b) type of disability the number of people with disabilities under the age of 35 in Norwich, North constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, 22 February 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question, transferred from the Department of Health, asking for a breakdown by (a) age group and (b) type of disability, of the number of people with disabilities under the age of 35 in Norwich North Constituency, in the most recent period for which figures are available. (185608)
	The 2001 Census did not ask a question on disability but did ask a question about limiting long-term illness. I have therefore provided the figures for the number of people in Norwich North Constituency with a limiting long-term illness, by 5 year age bands:
	
		
			  Age  Number 
			 0 to 4 130 
			 5 to 9 249 
			 10 to 14 265 
			 15 to 19 259 
			 20 to 24 353 
			 25 to 29 514 
			 30 to 34 654 
			  Note: Figures are crown copyright 
		
	
	A 2001 Census Commissioned table (C0886) was produced to provide these figures.

Disabled: Tamworth

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of those under the age of 25 resident in Tamworth constituency have a disability, broken down by  (a) type of disability and  (b) age group.

Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 22 February 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question, transferred from the Department of Health, asking how many of those under the age of 25 resident in Tamworth Constituency have a disability, broken down by (a) type of disability and (b) age group. (186790)
	The 2001 Census did not ask a question on disability but did ask a question about limiting long-term illness. I have therefore provided the number of people in Tamworth Constituency with a limiting long-term illness by 5 year age bands:
	
		
			   Number 
			 0-4 174 
			 5-9 321 
			 10-14 353 
			 15-19 327 
			 20-24 275 
		
	
	A 2001 Census Commissioned table (C0886) was produced to provide these figures.
	 Note:
	Figures are Crown Copyright.

Fair Trade Initiative

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's policy is on the use of fair trade goods  (a) in staff catering facilities and  (b) at official departmental functions and meetings; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department has no formal policy for the purchase of fair trade goods, as there are no mandatory policy requirements in place for the procurement of fair trade products by central Government Departments.
	The Department is however committed to promoting and supporting fair and ethical trading wherever possible.

Forced Marriage

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that information on helplines and access to support for victims of forced marriage or persons in fear of forced marriage is made available to the public through health service networks.

Ivan Lewis: Guidance to assist health professionals who suspect cases of forced marriage was produced by the Home Office/Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit and the Department of Health. Published in June 2007, this guidance was widely circulated and advertised to national health service and social care staff. The guidance is intended to help all health professionals recognise the warning signs of forced marriage, understand the danger faced by women and to respond to their needs efficiently and effectively. As well as practical information, the guide contains a poster that can be displayed, and which gives the telephone number of the Forced Marriage Unit's confidential helpline.

Hearing Impaired: Health Services

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people had been waiting for more than six weeks for a hearing assessment on the latest date for which information is available; and what estimate has been made of the number likely to be waiting more than six weeks in March 2008.

Ivan Lewis: Data are collected for all audiology assessments, including hearing assessments. The number of waits over six weeks for audiology assessments has fallen by 98,000 or 73 per cent. over the last year to 36,400 at the end of November 2007. The national health service is on track to ensure that no patients will wait longer than six weeks for an audiology assessment by the end of March 2008.

Hearing Impaired: Standards

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to implement and monitor an 18-week target within which audiovestibular patients with hearing and balance disorders must be dealt with by the NHS.

Ivan Lewis: Patients referred for surgical or medical consultant-led care, will be covered by the target of treatment within 18 weeks of referral by December 2008. Local health bodies will not be credible in claiming success on meeting the 18 week target if large numbers of patients are affected by long waits for audiology treatment. From April 2008, the Department will collect information on waits for direct access audiology treatment for patients who are referred directly to audiologists or clinical scientists in audiological medicine.

Hepatitis

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people with  (a) hepatitis C and  (b) HIV have (i) committed suicide and (ii) had contact with NHS mental services while receiving NHS drug treatment since 1997.

Ivan Lewis: This information is not held centrally.

Home Care Services

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on the inclusion of domiciliary care workers on the social care register; when he expects this work to be completed; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 20 February 2008
	We hope to open the register to domiciliary care workers in late summer this year.
	Officials are currently working closely with the General Social Care Council (GSCC) on this issue and are considering the mechanism for registration with the GSCC.

NHS: Legal Costs

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the NHS Business Services Authority was of taking Mr. Phil Mitchell of Ticknall to court for payment of a penalty charge; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: On 13 August 2007, the NHS Business Service Authority (NHSBSA) issued a claim via the county court to recover a total amount of £339 from Mr. Mitchell. The court fee for issuing the claim was £40. There was also a hearing fee of £50 as Mr. Mitchell filed a defence. The travel costs of a representative of the NHSBSA attending the hearing were £48.
	The case went to court on 9 January 2008. The judge ordered Mr. Mitchell to pay £189 for the treatment.

NHS: Public Participation

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget was for  (a) community health councils,  (b) each community health council,  (c) patient involvement forums and  (d) each patient involvement forum in the last full financial year of their operation; and what the budget is for (i) local involvement networks and (ii) each local involvement network in the first full financial year of their operation.

Ann Keen: Community Health Councils (CHCs), Patient and Public Involvement Forums (PPIFs) and local involvement networks (LINks) all support a stronger voice for patients and the public. However, they all have different functions, geographical coverage and support infrastructure. Furthermore, LINks differ from CHCs and Forums because they cover social care as well as health services.
	Funds allocated to support CHCs, forums and LINks were distributed through three very different mechanisms—via Department of Health Regional Offices and health authorities for CHCs, via the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) and Forums Support Organisations (FSOs) to Forums and through local authorities (LAs) and hosts for LINks.
	In the case of CHCs and PPIFs, it is not possible to provide exact figures for each CHC and PPIF. However, we can provide an indication of average allocation based on total funding divided by the number of CHCs and PPIFs. We can identify the allocation made available to each LINk, as the funding route is direct from the department to each individual LA.
	
		
			   £/number 
			 Total funding for CHCs in the last full year of operation (2002-03) 23 million 
			 Number of CHCs 184 
			 Average allocation per CHC 125,000 
			   
			 Total funding for PPIFs in the last full year of operation (2007-08) 28 million 
			 Number of PPIFs 398 
			 Average allocation per PPIF 70,300 
			   
			   
			 Total funding for LINks in their first full year of operation (2008-09) 28 million 
			 Number of LINks 150 
			 Actual amount allocated to each LA per LINk for 2008-09 See following table 
		
	
	
		
			  2008-09 
			  LA  £ million 
			 Hartlepool 0.099 
			 Herefordshire 0.119 
			 Isle of Wight Council 0.115 
			 Isles of Scilly 0.061 
			 Kingston upon Hull 0.173 
			 Leicester 0.186 
			 Luton 0.131 
			 Medway 0.136 
			 Middlesbrough 0.122 
			 Milton Keynes 0.129 
			 North East Lincolnshire 0.120 
			 North Lincolnshire 0.114 
			 North Somerset 0.121 
			 Nottingham 0.184 
			 Peterborough 0.122 
			 Plymouth 0.151 
			 Poole 0.103 
			 Portsmouth 0.125 
			 Reading 0.104 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 0.116 
			 Rutland 0.069 
			 Slough 0.104 
			 South Gloucestershire 0.124 
			 Southampton 0.141 
			 Southend-on-Sea 0.123 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 0.126 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 0.163 
			 Swindon 0.112 
			 Telford and The Wrekin 0.119 
			 Wiltshire 0.181 
			 Worcestershire 0.222 
			 Bedfordshire 0.171 
			 Buckinghamshire 0.182 
			 Cambridgeshire 0.219 
			 Cheshire 0.257 
			 Barking and Dagenham 0.147 
			 Barnet 0.182 
			 Bexley 0.131 
			 Brent 0.185 
			 Bromley 0.151 
			 Croydon 0.188 
			 Ealing 0.183 
			 Enfield 0.179 
			 Haringey 0.172 
			 Harrow 0.138 
			 Havering 0.133 
			 Hillingdon 0.147 
			 Hounslow 0.142 
			 Kingston upon Thames 0.102 
			 Merton 0.123 
			 Newham 0.214 
			 Redbridge 0.156 
			 Richmond upon Thames 0.107 
			 Sutton 0.118 
			 Waltham Forest 0.164 
			 Camden 0.176 
			 Greenwich 0.188 
			 Hackney 0.207 
			 Thurrock 0.111 
			 Torbay 0.119 
			 Warrington 0.117 
			 West Berkshire 0.095 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 0.093 
			 Wokingham 0.087 
			 York 0.108 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 0.109 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 0.123 
			 Blackpool 0.126 
			 Bournemouth 0.119 
			 Bracknell Forest 0.086 
			 Brighton and Hove 0.148 
			 Bristol 0.210 
			 Darlington 0.096 
			 Derby 0.150 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 0.158 
			 Halton 0.111 
			 Cornwall 0.252 
			 Cumbria 0.232 
			 Derbyshire 0.314 
			 Devon 0.298 
			 Dorset 0.183 
			 Durham 0.256 
			 East Sussex 0.236 
			 Essex 0.480 
			 Gloucestershire 0.231 
			 Hampshire 0.378 
			 Hertfordshire 0.361 
			 Kent 0.492 
			 Lancashire 0.454 
			 Leicestershire 0.219 
			 Lincolnshire 0.285 
			 Norfolk 0.342 
			 North Yorkshire 0.222 
			 Northamptonshire 0.253 
			 Northumberland 0.165 
			 Nottinghamshire 0.304 
			 Oxfordshire 0.222 
			 Shropshire 0.150 
			 Somerset 0.226 
			 Staffordshire 0.301 
			 Suffolk 0.280 
			 Surrey 0.333 
			 Warwickshire 0.212 
			 West Sussex 0.281 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 0.143 
			 Islington 0.170 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 0.140 
			 Lambeth 0.207 
			 Lewisham 0.197 
			 Southwark 0.211 
			 Tower Hamlets 0.208 
			 Wandsworth 0.169 
			 Westminster 0.174 
			 City of London 0.063 
			 Barnsley 0.152 
			 Bolton 0.166 
			 Bradford 0.259 
			 Bury 0.122 
			 Calderdale 0.130 
			 Coventry 0.178 
			 Doncaster 0.172 
			 Dudley 0.173 
			 Gateshead 0.140 
			 Kirklees 0.202 
			 Knowsley 0.140 
			 North Tyneside 0.134 
			 Oldham 0.151 
			 Rochdale 0.147 
			 Rotherham 0.160 
			 Salford 0.159 
			 Sandwell 0.202 
			 Sefton 0.172 
			 Solihull 0.119 
			 South Tyneside 0.127 
			 St Helens 0.132 
			 Stockport 0.149 
			 Sunderland 0.176 
			 Tameside 0.146 
			 Trafford 0.130 
			 Wakefield 0.182 
			 Walsall 0.170 
			 Wigan 0.175 
			 Wirral 0.200 
			 Wolverhampton 0.169 
			 Birmingham 0.558 
			 Leeds 0.308 
			 Liverpool 0.291 
			 Manchester 0.288 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 0.171 
			 Sheffield 0.263 
			  Note: The remaining £l million, after LA allocations are made, will be used to support national LINks activity.

Nutrition

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nutritionists the national health service employed in  (a) Southend,  (b) Essex and  (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Ann Keen: The latest published annual national health service workforce census does not separately identify the number of nutritionists who work in the NHS because nutritionists are grouped together with dieticians in the census.
	There were 10 dieticians employed by Southend Hospitals NHS Trust in 2006, the latest period for which figures are available. The figures for the previous five years are nine in 2005, 10 in 2004 and six in both 2003 and 2002.
	There were 81 dieticians employed by NHS trusts in Essex in 2006, 73 in 2005, 72 in 2004, 63 in 2003 and 58 in 2002.
	There were 3,413 qualified dieticians employed in the NHS in England in 2006, an increase of 1,240 (57 per cent.) since September 1997. There were 3,407 employed in 2005, 3,235 in 2004, 3,122 in 2003 and 2,906 in 2002.
	The following table gives the breakdown:
	
		
			  NHS hospital and community health services: Qualified dietetics staff in England, East of England Strategic Health Authority and each specified organisation as at 30 September each specified year 
			  H eadcount 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 England 2,906 3,122 3,235 3,407 3,413 
			  O f which:  
			 East of England Strategic Health Authority 286 305 325 339 332 
			  Of  which:  
			 Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals  
			 NHS Foundation Trust 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust 9 9 9 9 12 
			 Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust 9 11 10 11 11 
			 North East Essex primary care trust (PCT) 3 4 4 3 4 
			 North Essex Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust 1 1 1 1 2 
			 South East Essex PCT 0 0 0 0 0 
			 South West Essex Teaching PCT 12 11 16 17 19 
			 Southend Hospital NHS Trust 6 6 10 9 10 
			 West Essex PCT 18 21 22 23 23 
			 The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Thurrock PCT 0 0 0 0 0 
			  Notes: In October 2006 various mergers took place; Colchester PCT and Tendring PCT merged to form North East Essex PCT. Basildon PCT, Thurrock PCT, Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford PCT merged to form South West Essex PCT. Epping Forest PCT, Harlow PCT and Uttlesford PCT merged to form West Essex PCT. The figures have been aggregated accordingly by the current organisation title. More accurate validation processes in 2006 have resulted in the identification and removal of 9,858 duplicate non-medical staff records out of the total workforce figure of 1.3 million in 2006. Earlier years' figures could not be accurately validated in this way and so will be slightly inflated. The level of inflation in earlier years' figures is estimated to be less than 1 per cent. of total across all non-medical staff groups for headcount figures (and negligible for full-time equivalents). This should be taken into consideration when analysing trends over time.  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce Census. 
		
	
	The information on dieticians employed in the NHS in Wales is not collected by the Department. The information will be available from the devolved administration in Wales.

Pathology: Children

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many qualified paediatric pathologists were practising in each coroner's district in each of the last five years.

Ann Keen: The information is not available in the format requested. Data on the numbers of pathologists are collected by the Royal College of Pathologists, but are not broken down by coroners' districts. Royal College of Pathologists' data show that the number of qualified consultant paediatric/perinatal pathologists practising in England in each of the last five years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Number of paediatric/perinatal pathologists 
			 2007 40 
			 2006 38 
			 2005 35 
			 2004 32 
			 2003 32

Peripheral Arterial Disease

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons peripheral arterial disease is no longer included in the quality and outcomes framework; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: There have never been any indicators in the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) for peripheral arterial disease.

Skin Cancer

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many skin cancer patients were diagnosed where use of sunbed salons was a contributing factor in their condition in each of the last five years for which records are available.

Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 22 February 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many skin cancer patients have been diagnosed where use of sunbed salons has been a contributing factor in their condition in each of the last five years for which records are available.
	The use of sunbed salons as a contributing factor in skin cancer is not recorded. The most recent available figures for newly diagnosed cases of malignant melanoma of skin registered in England are for the year 2005. Figures for the years 2001 to 2005 are in the following table.
	
		
			  Registrations of newly diagnosed skin cancer, by sex, England, 2001-05 
			   Males  Females 
			 2001 2,785 3,580 
			 2002 2,922 3,693 
			 2003 3,044 3,830 
			 2004 3,307 4,056 
			 2005 3,663 4,362 
			 (1) Malignant melanoma of skin is coded to C43 in the International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision (ICD-10)  Source: Office for National Statistics

Teenage Pregnancy

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many girls aged  (a) under 16 years and  (b) 16 to 17 years became pregnant in (i) the Metropolitan Police area of London, (ii) Birmingham and (iii) England and Wales in each of the last three years; and how many of those pregnancies were followed by (A) a live birth and (B) abortion.

Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.
	The numbers of conceptions to girls under 16 and of conceptions to 16 and 17 year old girls and the percentage resulting in maternity or abortion in each of the last three years for which data are available (2003-05) in the Greater London Government office region, in Birmingham, in England and in England and Wales are provided in the following table. It also includes information on the under 18 conception rate which shows that the proportion of under 18s becoming pregnant has declined in England by 11.4 per cent. since 1998.
	
		
			   Number of conceptions to girls under 16  Number of conceptions: girls aged 16 and 17  Under 18 conception rate (per 1,000 of the female population aged 15-17) 
			   2003  2004  2005  2003  2004  2005  2003  2004  2005 
			  England and Wales 8,024 7,615 7,930 34,138 34,583 34,395 42.4 41.8 41.4 
			 Percentage leading to maternity 43 43 43 57 57 56 — — — 
			 Percentage leading to abortion 57 57 57 43 43 44 — — — 
			   
			  England 7,558 7,181 7,473 31,995 32,412 32,331 42.2 41.6 41.3 
			 Percentage leading to maternity 42 42 43 57 57 56 — — — 
			 Percentage leading to abortion 58 58 57 43 43 44 — — — 
			   
			  Greater London GOR 1,247 1,128 1,068 5,220 5,107 4,795 51.8 49.2 46.0 
			 Percentage leading to maternity 33 34 36 43 42 42 — — — 
			 Percentage leading to abortion 67 66 64 57 58 58 — — — 
			   
			  Birmingham 186 192 199 967 927 896 54.4 51.9 50.7 
			 Percentage leading to maternity 46 44 50 61 60 57 — — — 
			 Percentage leading to abortion 54 56 50 39 40 43 — — —

Transplant Surgery: Waiting Lists

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are waiting for an organ transplant in each region.

Ann Keen: The number of people listed as waiting for a transplant at 5 February 2008 by strategic health (SHA) authority of patient residence is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  SHA  Kidney  Pancreas  Kidney/pancreas  Heart  Lung(s)  Heart/Lungs  Liver  Total 
			 Channel Isles 11 0 0 0 1 0 2 14 
			 East Midlands 726 3 16 8 13 1 12 779 
			 East of England 619 15 17 10 15 2 22 700 
			 Isle of Man 8 0 0 0 1 0 2 11 
			 London 1,472 20 25 8 24 3 41 1,593 
			 North East 249 4 11 6 6 0 10 286 
			 North West 936 14 42 7 47 2 30 1,078 
			 Northern Ireland 291 0 0 3 11 2 12 319 
			 Scotland 791 1 13 9 21 0 35 870 
			 South Central 488 5 33 3 11 1 10 551 
			 South East Coast 404 4 9 11 16 1 12 457 
			 South West 534 8 34 4 19 2 20 621 
			 Wales 419 4 9 2 20 0 12 466 
			 West Midlands 833 3 22 8 20 3 16 905 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 752 2 15 9 27 1 37 843 
			 Total 8,533 83 246 88 252 18 273 9,493 
			  Note:  1. Includes those temporarily suspended on the list.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Migrant Workers: Cambridgeshire

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the number of migrant workers there were in  (a) Cambridgeshire,  (b) Peterborough and  (c) North East Cambridgeshire constituency in each of the last three years.  [Official Report, 3 March 2008, Vol. 473, c. 2MC.]

Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	The information request falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 22 February 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on what the most recent estimate is of the number of migrant workers in (a) Cambridgeshire, (b) Peterborough and (c) North East Cambridgeshire in each of the last three years. (187207)
	The Office for National Statistics compiles statistics on migrant workers for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS). The National Statistics method for estimating the number of migrant workers employed in the UK is routinely based on the number of people at a given time who were born abroad, are of working age (16-64 for men, 16-59 for women), and in employment. This question has been answered on this basis. It means, for example, that some people who are UK nationals will be included in the total of "foreign born" and that people who are working but are above state pension age are not included.
	APS estimates at this detailed level are only available consistent with population estimates published in February and March 2003 and are not comparable with the estimates published in the Labour Market Statistics First Release on 13 February 2008, which are based on latest population estimates.
	The table attached, shows the numbers of working age in employment who were not born in the UK and were resident in the county of Cambridgeshire, Peterborough UA and North East Cambridgeshire constituency, for the twelve month periods ending in June for 2005, 2006, 2007 from the APS. The July to June 2007 APS dataset is the most recent which is currently available. The table also shows the numbers of non-UK born persons as a percentage of all working age in employment, in these areas.
	When interpreting these figures, it is important to bear in mind that the APS is not designed to cover everyone who is present in the UK. The survey may undercount the numbers of people who were born overseas. The reasons are set out in the table footnote.
	As these estimates are for a subset of the population in small geographical areas, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty.
	
		
			  Number of migrant workers in Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and North East Cambridgeshire in the last three years 
			   Cambridgeshire  Peterborough  North East Cambridgeshire 
			  12 months ending  June each year  Employment  l evel (thousand)( 1)  Non-UK born persons in employment as percentage of all in employment( 2)  Employment l evel (thousand)( 1)  Non-UK born persons in employment as percentage of all in employment( 2)  Employment  l evel (thousand)( 1)  Non-UK born persons in employment as percentage of all in employment( 2) 
			 2005 19 6 5 7 2 4 
			 2006 33 12 7 9 3 6 
			 2007 41 15 12 16 4 9 
			 (1) Includes males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59. (2) Denominator for percentage does not include respondents who did not answer the question on country of birth.  Notes: 1. Estimates are subject to sampling variability. 2. It should also be noted that the country of birth question in the APS gives an undercount because: it excludes certain people who have been resident in the UK for less than six months. it excludes students in halls who do not have a UK resident parent. it excludes people in most other types of communal establishments (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites, etc.). it is grossed to population estimates which exclude migrants staying for less than 12 months. microdata are grossed to population estimates consistent with those published in spring 2003 which are significantly lower than the latest population estimates.  Source: Annual Population Survey (APS), ONS

Missing Persons

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vulnerable adults were reported missing to the police in 2007; and what estimate she has made of the number of such people who became victims of crime whilst missing.

Tony McNulty: This information is not currently centrally available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Government are, through the new National Policing Improvement Agency's (NPIA) Missing Persons Bureau (which will become operational from 1 April 2008), exploring how data relating to missing persons should best be captured, recorded and shared in the future.

National Security

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the oral statement of the Prime Minister of 14 November 2007,  Official Report, columns 667-72, on national security, if she will publish the work commissioned by the Economic Research Council, King's College and the Royal Society for Arts on dealing with radicalisation at home and abroad.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 22 January 2008
	We understand that the Economic and Social Research Council, which is independent, will publish findings of their commissioned work in due course. The Government welcome this and other contributions to the crucial effort of developing common understanding of radicalisation towards violent extremism and of the best ways to tackle it.

Offensive Weapons: Crime

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations she has received on the merits of creating specific offences for  (a) carrying and using a knife in a violent attack and  (b) carrying a knife in a violent attack.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 21 January 2008
	The Government are committed to reducing instances of all types of violent crime including knife crime and to see that offenders are brought to justice.
	We do not currently have plans to create new specific offences in relation to knife crime. The new Tackling Violence Action Plan, published on 18 February focuses on a range of actions to ensure robust enforcement of the existing criminal law, including those currently in force in relation to the possession of knives. Current sentencing guidelines include the use of weapons as an aggravating factor to be taken into consideration by the courts when considering sentencing.

Police: Expenditure

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of employing police officers was as a percentage of the total budget for each police force in England for each year since 1990.

Tony McNulty: Data on the cost of employing police officers on a force by force basis going back to 1990 is not held centrally. Projected spend on police salaries, including overtime, national insurance contributions and employer's pension contributions, in 2007-08, accounts for some 80 per cent. of overall projected gross police service revenue expenditure (including police staff, and based on Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy data).

Police: Finance

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice her Department will give to police authorities on allocation of the surplus from the budget set aside to meet a 2.5 per cent. pay award for police officers from 1 September 2007.

Tony McNulty: None. It is for police authorities to determine how they use the resources available to them to ensure the best possible service to the public.

Police: Interpreters and Translators

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the average time  (a) English speaking individuals and  (b) non-English speaking individuals requiring interpreters were held in custody in the latest period for which figures are available, broken down by police force.

Tony McNulty: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Police: Interpreters and Translators

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 12 December 2006,  Official Report, column 1061W, on police interpreters, how much was spent on interpreters and translators by police forces in England and Wales in  (a) 2003-04,  (b) 2004-05,  (c) 2005-06,  (d) 2006-07 and  (e) 2007-08 to date.

Tony McNulty: This information is not collected centrally. Decisions on the distribution of resources are matters for the Chief Officer and the Police Authority.

Police: Interpreters and Translators

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2007,  Official Report, column 192W, on police: interpreters and translators, if she will make it her policy to collect information on the amount spent by police forces on interpreters.

Tony McNulty: There are no plans to collect this information centrally.

Police: Manpower

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in the Derbyshire Police Authority area in each year since 1997.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Police officer strength( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  in Derbyshire police force area ,  31 March 1997 to 31 March 2007 
			  As at 31 March:  Number 
			 1997 1,791 
			 1998 1,772 
			 1999 1,759 
			 2000 1,777 
			 2001 1,823 
			 2002 1,848 
			 2003(3) 2,003 
			 2004(3) 2,070 
			 2005(3) 2,070 
			 2006(3) 2,046 
			 2007(3) 2,023 
			 (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items.  (2) Full-time equivalent excludes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.  (3) Comparable strength (excludes those on career breaks, or maternity/paternity leave). The Police Numbers Task Force (2001) recommended that a clear presentation was made of the numbers of staff employed by police forces including those seconded into the force and those on any type of long or short-term absence. These new calculations were first used in 2003, and are not comparable with data prior to March 2003. The data from 2003 onwards used here are termed comparable because they have been calculated on the old basis to allow comparison.

Police: Vehicles

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) injuries and  (b) deaths were caused by accidents in which police vehicles were involved in each of the last 10 years, broken down by police force.

Tony McNulty: The available information relates to the numbers of casualties and degree of injury from road traffic collisions resulting from immediate/emergency response and police pursuits on public roads involving all police forces in England and Wales.
	These data have been collected centrally from 2002-03 and are provided in the following tables.
	
		
			  Number of casualties resulting from those road tra ffic accidents during immediate/ emergency response, from 2002-03 to 2006-07 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05 
			   Fatal injury  Serious injury  Other injury  Fatal injury  Serious injury  Other injury  Fatal injury  Serious injury  Other injury 
			 Avon and Somerset 2 7 53 2 6 74 0 9 52 
			 Bedfordshire 0 2 16 1 1 56 1 1 27 
			 Cambridgeshire 0 6 6 0 4 12 0 0 26 
			 Cheshire 0 2 27 0 1 17 0 7 29 
			 Cleveland 0 0 18 1 0 3 0 0 0 
			 Cumbria 0 0 8 0 0 5 0 0 6 
			 Derbyshire 0 0 38 0 1 25 1 0 35 
			 Devon and Cornwall 0 1 26 1 1 64 0 0 18 
			 Dorset 0 1 10 1 2 9 (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Durham 0 1 41 2 1 36 0 1 26 
			 Dyfed-Powys 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Essex 0 2 32 2 3 36 1 3 35 
			 Gloucestershire 0 0 24 0 0 4 0 0 12 
			 Greater Manchester 4 5 74 6 9 56 4 2 106 
			 Gwent 0 0 12 0 0 24 0 0 5 
			 Hampshire 1 7 29 0 3 7 0 0 7 
			 Hertfordshire 0 6 59 0 2 16 0 5 61 
			 Humberside 0 4 19 0 1 25 0 0 18 
			 Kent 0 2 48 0 7 73 0 2 23 
			 Lancashire 0 1 31 0 2 30 1 0 19 
			 Leicestershire 1 2 15 0 2 16 (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Lincolnshire 0 2 10 0 5 18 2 2 12 
			 London, City of 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 
			 Merseyside 3 3 62 3 6 75 0 3 58 
			 Metropolitan Police 5 14 (1)— 4 21 600 4 23 724 
			 Norfolk 1 1 17 1 1 28 0 6 26 
			 Northamptonshire 0 1 14 1 6 19 0 4 22 
			 Northumbria 0 3 62 0 3 70 3 13 94 
			 North Wales 0 0 18 0 1 5 0 0 3 
			 North Yorkshire (1)— (1)— (1)— 0 2 13 0 2 7 
			 Nottinghamshire 2 5 8 1 8 57 1 0 4 
			 South Wales 0 0 20 0 0 9 0 0 0 
			 South Yorkshire 0 3 24 0 12 67 2 10 83 
			 Staffordshire 0 0 26 0 1 29 0 0 1 
			 Suffolk 0 1 6 0 3 11 0 2 8 
			 Surrey 0 2 40 1 2 33 0 1 31 
			 Sussex 0 7 45 0 6 27 2 0 31 
			 Thames Valley 3 13 115 2 11 122 0 6 71 
			 Warwickshire 0 0 5 0 1 10 2 0 8 
			 West Mercia 0 4 30 0 2 22 0 4 32 
			 West Midlands 1 1 61 2 2 44 0 0 44 
			 West Yorkshire 0 0 15 0 0 7 0 2 5 
			 Wiltshire 0 0 8 0 0 4 0 0 11 
		
	
	
		
			   2005-06  2006-07 
			   Fatal injury  Serious injury  Other injury  Fatal injury  Serious injury  Other injury 
			 Avon and Somerset 2 3 68 0 8 42 
			 Bedfordshire 0 0 17 1 2 11 
			 Cambridgeshire 0 0 10 0 0 0 
			 Cheshire 0 5 30 0 2 18 
			 Cleveland 0 0 0 0 1 8 
			 Cumbria 2 0 3 0 0 3 
			 Derbyshire 0 0 6 0 0 16 
			 Devon and Cornwall 0 0 15 0 1 20 
			 Dorset 1 1 17 0 1 7 
			 Durham 0 2 13 0 1 21 
			 Dyfed-Powys 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Essex 1 4 17 0 0 22 
			 Gloucestershire 0 0 6 (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Greater Manchester 1 3 91 6 6 64 
			 Gwent 0 1 13 0 0 7 
			 Hampshire 1 7 10 1 5 4 
			 Hertfordshire 2 3 45 0 11 48 
			 Humberside 0 0 12 1 0 19 
			 Kent 1 1 18 0 0 12 
			 Lancashire 0 0 28 0 2 32 
			 Leicestershire 0 1 10 0 1 15 
			 Lincolnshire 0 1 13 0 0 6 
			 London, City of 0 1 6 0 0 0 
			 Merseyside 3 3 136 1 4 88 
			 Metropolitan Police 4 33 584 4 26 496 
			 Norfolk 0 0 10 0 0 10 
			 Northamptonshire 0 1 18 1 7 13 
			 Northumbria 1 5 84 1 5 64 
			 North Wales 0 0 1 0 0 24 
			 North Yorkshire 0 2 10 0 11 16 
			 Nottinghamshire (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 South Wales 0 0 3 0 0 1 
			 South Yorkshire 0 2 11 0 33 35 
			 Staffordshire 1 0 5 0 0 17 
			 Suffolk 1 1 4 0 0 16 
			 Surrey 0 1 31 0 2 24 
			 Sussex 5 0 23 0 0 43 
			 Thames Valley 0 2 127 3 6 56 
			 Warwickshire 0 0 8 0 0 8 
			 West Mercia 0 2 26 0 1 23 
			 West Midlands 0 0 31 0 0 12 
			 West Yorkshire 0 0 24 0 0 52 
			 Wiltshire 0 0 4 0 0 4 
			 (1) Force unable to provide data.

INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS

Written Questions: Government Responses

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when he expects to answer Question 164208, tabled on 9 November 2007.

David Lammy: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 18 February 2008,  Official Report, column 424W.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan: Reconstruction

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2007,  Official Report, column 1353W, on Afghanistan: reconstruction, if he will place in the Library copies of the two studies completed by the Stabilisation Unit into  (a) UK provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) in Helmand and Basra and  (b) the review of the Helmand PRT deployment.

Douglas Alexander: Both studies are classified as they consider in detail the capabilities of, and operational constraints faced by, the UK's Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Helmand and Basra. As such it would not be appropriate to place them in the Library of the House.

Burma: Education

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of his Department's contribution to the multi-donor trust fund for education in Burma has been spent on  (a) state schools,  (b) monastery schools and  (c) other non-state schools since contributions began.

Douglas Alexander: The multi-donor education fund, managed by UNICEF, is designed to help poor Burmese children to complete primary education by helping to cover the costs of schooling which parents would otherwise have to meet themselves. It pays for items such as educational materials and repairs to school buildings.
	In 2007, the first year of its operation, the fund spent £2,880,000. DFID contributed £740,000 of the total. 66 per cent. of the fund (£1,900,000) was spent on local-level support for children in state schools, and 24 per cent. (£700,000) on support for children in monastic and affiliated schools and pre-schools run by NGOs and communities. The remaining 10 per cent. (£280,000) was spent on technical support, including monitoring the distribution and usage of supplies. In the first year 12 per cent. of the primary age population benefited from the work of the fund. In the same period, DFID spent a further £910,000 on support for community-managed pre-schools through Save the Children.
	None of DFID's funds go to the central Ministry of Education.

Chad: Overseas Aid

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether there are plans to increase the humanitarian assistance to Chad.

Gillian Merron: The humanitarian situation in Chad and in western Darfur remains fluid. The rapidly changing humanitarian situation means that DFID is urgently reviewing its funding commitments.
	In the financial year 2007-08, DFID has committed £6.5 million to Chad through humanitarian agencies. These include ICRC (£600,000), UNHCR (£2 million) UNOCHA (£260,000), Oxfam (£330,000), WFP (£1.8 million) and Islamic Relief (£500,000). Through these agencies, DFID is contributing to the provision of water and sanitation facilities, food, shelter and other relief items for refugee, IDP and host populations.

Chad: Sudan

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment has been made of the effect that the security situation in Chad is having on the humanitarian situation in Darfur; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: Clashes between the Justice and Equality Movement, allegedly supported by the Government of Chad, and Sudanese armed forces, allegedly supported by Chadian rebels, have led to deterioration in security in West Darfur. The area north of El-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, has been particularly heavily affected by these clashes, with media reports suggesting 12,000 additional displaced civilians, the looting and destruction of humanitarian relief centres and at least 160,000 vulnerable civilians currently cut off from receiving aid.
	Humanitarian agencies are attempting to assess the scale and nature of needs in the area but are being hampered by the ongoing clashes.
	The humanitarian implications for Darfur of the escalation in violence inside Chad remain unclear at present.

Departmental Public Relations

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many external contracts his Department held with public relations companies in each of the last 10 years; and what the total cost of those contracts was.

Douglas Alexander: Nine contracts were awarded by the Department for International Development (DFID) to public relations companies in the last 10 years, at a total cost of £527,645.
	These data have been extracted from readily available information and may not be comprehensive. To undertake an extensive interrogation of records over the last 10 years would incur disproportionate cost.

Developing Countries: Overseas Aid

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with what countries the European Commission has  (a) discussed and  (b) entered into millennium development goals contracts.

Gareth Thomas: The European Commission has discussed its proposals to establish millennium development goal (MDG) contracts with member states, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, Africa Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The proposal is not yet finalised, and the Commission has not yet entered into any MDG contracts.

Developing Countries: Overseas Aid

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what indicators the European Commission has developed to ensure that millennium development goal (MDG) contracts are effective in achieving the MDGs, with particular reference to MDG5.

Gareth Thomas: Monitoring frameworks for the proposed MDG contracts will include health and education indicators at a minimum, and may also cover anything clearly linked to the MDGs, including issues related to growth. Specific indicators linked to payments will be agreed when contracts are being designed.

Developing Countries: Overseas Aid

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development to what extent  (a) national parliaments and  (b) sexual and reproductive health and rights organisations will be involved in the preparation of (i) the European Commission millennium development goal (MDG) contract proposals, (ii) the development of MDG contracts and (iii) the monitoring of results.

Gareth Thomas: The European Commission has been developing its proposals for a millennium development goal (MDG) contract for some time. We are not aware of any specific engagement, to date, with national parliaments or sexual and reproductive health and rights organisations.
	The Commission's guidelines on Global Budget Support encourage delegations to consult with groups such as NGOs, professional associations and trade unions over the design of budget support programmes. The guidelines recommend that monitoring should be used to promote ownership and accountability, and that key stakeholders—including parliaments, local governments and non-state actors—should participate at key moments in performance reviews.

India: Children

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department provides to India to tackle  (a) malnutrition and  (b) poor sanitation affecting children under five.

Douglas Alexander: At the national level, DFID is providing £252 million to the Government of India's Reproductive and Child Health Programme (RCH II) which is tackling child ill-health and malnutrition through antenatal care, promotion of early breastfeeding, treatment of diarrhoea, and education on health and sanitation. DFID has also committed £75 million to UNICEF to work in eight disadvantaged states to provide better services for undernourished babies and children. DFID also supports India's Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), the main response of the Government of India to child malnutrition. We are providing £1 million to help redesign the programme so that it more effectively reaches its target of 36 million children under six and 7.7 million pregnant and nursing women. DFID's considerable support (£350 million since 2003) to the Government of India's education programmes is also contributing to improved sanitation and nutrition through empowerment and awareness raising.
	At the state level, tackling malnutrition is a key element of DFID's health sector support programmes in Orissa (where we are contributing £50 million), Madhya Pradesh (£60 million) and Andhra Pradesh (£40 million). The Government of West Bengal has launched a nutrition strategy targeting children under three in the state's six poorest districts. DFID will provide up to £12 million over the next three years to support this strategy, with another £100 million to strengthen general health services in the state.
	DFID's rural livelihoods programmes (five state-level programmes totalling £153 million) have reduced hunger for millions. Households in these areas report fewer days without sufficient food, increased production of food staples, and improved access to food and incomes.

India: Females

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to  (a) tackle barriers to educational access for girls and  (b) improve female literacy in India.

Douglas Alexander: DFID has spent £350 million on education in India since 2003. This has mostly helped fund the Government of India's Sarva Shiksa Abhiyan (Education for All) programme which aims to get all India's children, particularly girls, into elementary school. This has resulted in enrolments rising from 160 million in 2003 to over 190 million in 2007. The programme's targeting of girls has resulted in numbers of girls and boys being close to equal at the primary level (up to age 11) and is likely to be achieved at upper primary level (11 to 14) by 2010. DFID also recently committed £35 million in support of the Government of India's women's empowerment programme, Mahila Samakhya, which helps women and girls in rural areas to overcome discrimination and access educational opportunities.
	Sarva Shiksa Abhivan and Mahila Samakhya are both working towards improved female literacy in India. Sarva Shiksa Abhivan is doing this by bringing girls into elementary education. Mahila Samakhya supports over 7 million adolescent girls and women across rural India to help them to read and write. It targets those sub- districts where female literacy rates are known to be significantly lower than average.

India: Infant Mortality

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to ensure that economic growth in India has a positive impact on infant mortality; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: Despite India's impressive economic growth, illness and death rates among infants and children remain unacceptably high. DFID is working with the Government of India to tackle this issue through more effective delivery of health services for poor people, women and children.
	DFID supports two of the Government of India's national programmes to reduce child and maternal mortality. We are providing £252 million to Reproductive and Child Health II, a programme that is improving access to skilled birth attendance and emergency obstetric care for pregnant women; and providing new born care, immunisation and other health services for children. We are also providing £128 million for the Government's polio immunisation programme, which aims to eradicate the polio virus in India.
	At the state level, DFID is supporting health sector programmes in the four states of West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. As well as working to strengthen health services these programmes support more effective joint working between health, nutrition, education, and water and sanitation departments—to tackle the multiple causes of child ill-health.
	DFID is also funding UNICEF to improve the implementation of Government programmes—focused particularly on child and maternal health—in eight disadvantaged and highly populous states, including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Kosovo: Housing

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the work of the Kosovo Property Agency and its predecessor, the United Nations Housing and Property Directorate; what support his Department is providing to this agency; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The Kosovo Property Agency has established mechanisms to resolve property claims in Kosovo and restore property rights to persons displaced by the 1999 conflict. Since its establishment in March 2006 the agency has resolved 3,346 cases.
	In 2007 the UK provided €500,000 (£335,660) support to the Kosovo Property Agency through the Global Conflict Prevention Pool.

Timor Leste: Overseas Aid

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether there are plans to increase assistance provided to East Timor.

Gareth Thomas: There have been no reports that the current political crisis has resulted in increased numbers of internally displaced people, which might justify additional humanitarian funding. DFID, however, remains abreast of the situation and a representative from the British Embassy in Jakarta is currently visiting East Timor. The Government of East Timor generates an increasing income from oil revenues, and a multi-donor trust fund has been established to assist the Government's delivery of the East Timor National Development Plan (NDP). DFID provided £1 million to this trust fund in 2006-07 and again in 2007-08.

JUSTICE

Honours

Greg Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many members of the senior civil service in his Department have received an honour.

Michael Wills: We do not routinely keep records of those officials awarded honours before joining the Department, those awarded honours not related to official duties, or those holding more than one award. This information could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
	We do keep records of those officials who have received State honours on the recommendation of this Department. Since the establishment of the Ministry of Justice in May 2007 three members of the senior civil service have received an honour, broken down as follows:
	CB: 2
	CBE: 1
	Similar records were kept by the former Department for Constitutional Affairs. Since 1992, 36 members of the senior civil service received awards following departmental recommendation, broken down as follows:
	Knighthood: 1
	CB: 12
	CBE: 21
	QBE: 2

Computer Misuse Act

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) prosecutions and  (b) convictions there have been for unauthorised (i) access to computer material, (ii) access to computer material with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences and (iii) modification of computer material under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

Jack Straw: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for various offences relating to "computer material", in England and Wales for the year 2006 can be found in the following table.
	
		
			  N umber of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for various offences relating to "computer material," in England and Wales for the year 2006( 1, 2) 
			  Statute  Offence description  Prosecuted  Found guilty 
			 Computer Misuse Act 1990 Sec 2 Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences 5 4 
			 Computer Misuse Act 1990 Sec 3 Unauthorised modification of computer material 13 10 
			 Computer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 1 Unauthorised access to computer material 4 4 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis.  (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.   Source:  Court proceedings database held by RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform - Ministry of Justice

Offenders: Deportation

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners held in HM Prison Bullwood Hall and HM Prison Canterbury on 18 February 2008 had completed their custodial sentences and were awaiting deportation; and how many of those who remain in custody are up to  (a) one month, ( b) three months, (c) six months,  (d) 12 months and  (e) more than 12 months beyond the date of sentence completion.

David Hanson: As at 18 February 2008, nine detainees at Bullwood Hall had completed their custodial sentences and were awaiting deportation. Eight of these were less than one month beyond sentence completion and one was more than three months but less than six months beyond the date of sentence completion. As at the same date, one detainee at Canterbury had completed his sentence and was awaiting deportation. He had completed his sentence less than one month earlier. All are being held under immigration act powers.
	Over 4,200 foreign national prisoners were removed or deported from the UK in 2007. This means that the Border and Immigration Agency has removed over 80 per cent. more foreign national prisoners than in 2006.

Prisoners: Foreigners

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of those foreign national prisoners released from a custodial sentence had served more than half of their sentence in each of the last 10 years.

David Hanson: To establish the information requested would entail the manual inspection of all the relevant prisoner files which would involve disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Foreigners

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many foreign national prisoners are  (a) serving sentences of (i) six months or less, (ii) six to 12 months, (iii) 12 to 24 months, (iv) two to four years, (v) four to eight years, (vi) determinate sentences of more than eight years, (vii) indeterminate sentences for public protection with minimum tariffs of categories set out in (i) to (vi) and  (b) serving life sentences, broken down by those who have minimum tariffs of (A) under five, (B) five to 10 and (C) more than 10 years.

David Hanson: The following table gives information on the numbers of foreign national prisoners held in all prison establishments in England and Wales at the end of December 2007 showing sentence length as recorded on the prison service system.
	
		
			   Number 
			 Total 7,560 
			 Less than or equal to six months 600 
			 Greater than six months less than 12 months 430 
			 12 months to less than four years 2,070 
			 Four years to less than or equal to 10 years 2,990 
			 10 years to less than Life 620 
			 IPP 270 
			 Life 580 
		
	
	Information on the lengths of tariffs of individual prisoners is not available and could not be provided without disproportionate cost.
	For the proportion of total prisoners who are foreign nationals, Council of Europe data on foreign national prisoners held in other major western countries reveal much higher proportions, for example in Austria (43 per cent.), Spain (33 per cent.), Germany (28 per cent.) and France (21 per cent.) than the figure for England and Wales (14 per cent.), based on 2006 population data.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Rape: Sentencing

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of those convicted of rape in  (a) the East of England and  (b) Suffolk were given (i) an immediate custodial sentence, (ii) a community sentence and (iii) a (A) conditional and (B) absolute discharge in each of the last five years.

David Hanson: The requested information is contained in the following table.
	The East of England has been defined by police force area, and includes:
	Derbyshire
	Nottinghamshire
	Lincolnshire
	Leicestershire
	Northamptonshire
	Cambridgeshire
	Norfolk
	Suffolk
	
		
			  Offender sentenced to immediate custody, community sentences or discharge for rape( 1, 2 ) in Eastern England and Suffolk, 2002-2006 
			   Area  Discharge  Community sentence  Immediate custody  Grand t otal 
			 2002 East England 0 4 72 76 
			  Suffolk 0 0 7 7 
			 2003 East England 0 0 77 77 
			  Suffolk 0 0 7 7 
			 2004 East England 1 1 84 86 
			  Suffolk 0 0 3 3 
			 2005 East England Suffolk 0 5 91 96 
			  Suffolk 0 1 8 9 
			 2006 East England 0 3 99 102 
			  Suffolk 0 0 11 11 
			 (1) Principal offence basis.  (2) Classified under the offence class of rape, which include rape of a male and a female.  Source:  RDS-NOMS, Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Travelling People

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost was to his Department of each of the five annual Developing Services for Gypsies and Travellers conferences.

Iain Wright: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 February 2008,  Official Report, columns 55-56W.

Young Offenders: Lancashire

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the evaluation of the peer panels in Lancashire will be published; and when a decision will be made on the extension of the project.

David Hanson: The peer panel project in Lancashire is in its very early stages and evaluation of it has not yet begun. Expressions of Interest to carry out the evaluation have been invited and the deadline for responses is 4 March. At this moment it is not possible to say when the evaluation will be completed. In the light of that no decision about extending the project has been considered or made.

PRIME MINISTER

10 Downing Street: Operating Costs

David Laws: To ask the Prime Minister what the running costs were of 10 Downing street in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2006-07; and how much they are expected to be in 2007-08.

Gordon Brown: As a result of accounting changes it is not possible to provide comparable figures for the financial year 2005-06.
	The figure for the financial year 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 are set out in the table as follows:
	
		
			  Running costs  £ million 
			 2006-07 21.9 
		
	
	The figure includes for the first time the full costs of security, Information and Communications Technology and part of the Government News Network budget previously held by the Cabinet Office.
	Figures for 2007-08 will be available when the Cabinet Office Annual Resource accounts have been audited.

Banking (Special Provisions) Bill (Draft)

Theresa May: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  on what dates meetings were held between officials in his Office and HM Treasury to discuss  (a) proposals for and  (b) drafting of the Banking (Special Provisions) Bill;
	(2)  when he first received a draft of the Banking (Special Provisions) Bill.

Gordon Brown: The Banking (Special Provisions) Bill was published on 18 February 2008. My officials and I have regular meetings and discussions with ministerial colleagues and others on a wide range of subjects.

Departmental Advertising

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Prime Minister what percentage of No. 10 Downing street's expenditure was on advertising in each of the last 10 years.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Watson) on 19 February 2008,  Official Report, column 685W.

Departmental Communication

David Laws: To ask the Prime Minister what the cost was of the Downing Street Press Office in each quarter since 31 March 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister what the communications budget was for No. 10 Downing street and his Office for  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

Gordon Brown: As a result of changes to the Press Office budget since the start of the financial year 2006-07 it is not possible to provide the information requested. The budget includes, for the first time, part of the budget for the Government News Network, which was previously held centrally by Cabinet Office and the costs associated with Strategic Communications Unit.
	The communications budget for No. 10 for the financial year ending 31 March 2007 was £2.5 million.
	Figures for the financial year 2007-08 will be available after the end of the financial year.

Departmental Contracts

Jim Cousins: To ask the Prime Minister what the  (a) objective and  (b) value was of each contract placed with (i) Deloitte and Touche, (ii) Ernst and Young, (iii) KPMG, (iv) PricewaterhouseCoopers and (v) PA Consulting by his Office in each year since 2004-05.

Gordon Brown: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office (Tom Watson) on 19 February 2008,  Official Report, column 687W.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Philip Hammond: To ask the Prime Minister how much was spent by his Office on  (a) alcohol and  (b) entertaining in the last 12 months.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Cleethorpes (Shona McIsaac) on 25 July 2007,  Official Report , column 1108W. Figures for the financial year 2007-08 will be published in the usual way after the end of the financial year.

Ministers: Pay

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Prime Minister which Ministers of the Crown do not receive a ministerial salary.

Gordon Brown: The information requested can be found on the No. 10 website at: http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page2988.asp. A copy of this webpage has been placed in the Library of the House.

Strategic Communications Unit

Mark Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  how many  (a) civil servants,  (b) special advisers and  (c) other staff were employed by the No. 10 Strategic Communications Unit in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what the total cost of the No. 10 Strategic Communications Unit was in each of the last five years.

Gordon Brown: For information for the financial year 2006-07 I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 October 2007,  Official Report, columns 819-20W and to the answer I gave today (UIN 163573).
	For information for previous years I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by my predecessor (right hon. Tony Blair) on 30 November 2006,  Official Report, columns 895-6W, 8 March 2004,  Official Report, columns 1377-8W and, 25 March 2003,  Official Report, columns 125-7W.

TRANSPORT

Airports: Baggage

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2008,  Official Report, column 1411W, on airports: baggage, whether there is a requirement on UK airport authorities to record information on the disposal of items which are confiscated from the hand luggage of passengers; and how her Department ensures compliance with the requirement on airport operators to ensure that passengers are prevented from taking prohibited articles on to aircraft departing UK airports.

Jim Fitzpatrick: UK airports are not required to keep records of passenger items that they have confiscated and subsequently disposed of.
	Before anyone can be allowed airside access for departing flights, all travellers and their luggage must be screened for prohibited articles in airport search areas.

Departmental Computer Software

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the source code copies of core application software used by her Department and its agencies and supplied by third parties are held in escrow.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The following table shows whether the source code copies of core application software used by the Department for Transport and its agencies, and supplied by third parties, are held in escrow:
	
		
			   Whether or not held in Escrow 
			 DfT (Central) No 
			 DVLA Partial—a number are currently held in Escrow and DVLA are currently working with service providers to provide further items for inclusion as part of an ongoing review. 
			 HA Partial 
			 DSA No 
			 MCA No 
			 VOSA Yes 
			 VGA Nil requirement 
			 GCDA Nil requirement

Departmental Data Protection

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many complaints from individuals directly her Department has received as a consequence of the loss of personal data held by her Department and its agencies.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Many parts of the Department are involved in handling personal data in relation to its varied functions, and central records are not kept of the different kinds of losses that could be construed to fall within the scope of this question.

Departmental Databases

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what databases are  (a) owned and  (b) maintained by (i) her Department and (ii) its agencies.

Jim Fitzpatrick: There is no central record of all databases covering the whole of the Department for Transport, but a table, which has been deposited in the Libraries of the House, shows the major databases operated by the Department. Further information on smaller databases can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will list the special advisers employed in her Department and its predecessors since 6 May 1997; and what the  (a) start and  (b) end date of employment was in each case.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Since 2003, the Government have published on an annual basis the names and numbers of special advisers in each pay band. For the most recent information I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister on 22 November 2007,  Official Report, columns 147-150WS.
	Information on the employment of special advisers prior to 2003 was provided at regular intervals and is available in the Library of the House.

Departmental Security

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will list the  (a) special advisers and  (b) ministerial appointees in possession of a security pass enabling access to her Department's main building in the month prior to the prorogation of Parliament for the 2005 general election.

Jim Fitzpatrick: It is established practice not to provide details on pass access to Government buildings for security reasons.

Driving: Elderly

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will bring forward proposals to simplify the process whereby those who reach the age of 70 years can receive a new driving licence.

Jim Fitzpatrick: A web-based facility was introduced in June 2007 to allow drivers aged 70 and over to renew their driving licence entitlement on line. This supplements the existing paper based renewal facility.
	There are no other plans to introduce further facilities for the licence renewal process for drivers at age 70 and over.

Eurostar North Pole Depot: Finance

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding from the public purse was spent on the Eurostar North Pole depot.

Tom Harris: North Pole depot was originally built by European Passenger Services Ltd (EPSL), a subsidiary of British Rail, in 1991-02 for £75 million. The facility was built to service what is now known as the Eurostar train fleet.
	Under the arrangements for the Government to fund the provision of the new Eurostar maintenance depot at Temple Mills, Eurostar (UK) Ltd agreed to relinquish its interests in North Pole Depot for zero cost. The depot transfer to BRB (Residuary) Ltd. ownership was completed on 31 January 2008.
	The asset transferred from Eurostar (UK) Ltd to BRB (Residuary) Ltd on 31 January 2008, under the arrangements for providing Eurostar (UK) Ltd with a new depot at Temple Mills. This transfer involved no costs to the public purse. BRB (Residuary) Ltd is now responsible for managing all the costs and benefits of North Pole depot.

Honours

Greg Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many members of the senior civil service in her Department have received an honour.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Since New Year 2003, 12 members of staff in the senior civil service in the Department and its agencies have been awarded an honour, of whom four are still serving.

Motor Vehicles: Ownership

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will bring forward proposals to clarify the responsibilities of the seller and new owner of a vehicle under the form V5 process to ensure that the legal owner and registered keeper are always the same person.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) maintains a register of vehicles and associated keepers. It does not record owners of vehicles. There are no plans to change this approach.

Motor Vehicles: Ownership

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what powers she has to take action against a previous owner of a vehicle who has not filled in the relevant paperwork to transfer the title of registered keeper according to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Failure to notify sale, transfer, destruction or export of a vehicle is a criminal offence that can result in a fine of up to £1,000 under Section 59 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (VERA).

Private Roads: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who is responsible for the unadopted road at the side of 21 Market street, Adlington, Lancashire.

Rosie Winterton: I have no information on the specific circumstances at Adlington. In general, if a road is unadopted, the responsibility for the maintenance of it lies with the property owners that front the road concerned.

Railways: Greater London

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average timetable journey time by train was from  (a) Cambridge to London King's Cross,  (b) Lewes to London Victoria,  (c) Peterborough to London King's Cross,  (d) St. Albans to London St. Pancras,  (e) Reading to London Paddington,  (f) Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street and  (g) Canterbury to London Charing Cross in each year from 1993 to date.

Tom Harris: The Department for Transport does not hold this information. However, this information should be available from Network Rail, as the owner and operator of the national rail network. The hon. Member should contact Network Rail's chief executive at the following address for a response to his question:
	Iain Coucher
	Chief Executive
	Network Rail
	40 Melton Street
	London NW1 2EE

TREASURY

Alcoholic Drinks: Children

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many children died as a result of drinking alcohol in the last  (a) 12 months and  (b) five years, broken down by (i) strategic health authority, (ii) age and (iii) sex.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 21 February 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many children died as a result of drinking alcohol in the last (a) 12 months and (b) five years, broken down by (i) strategic health authority, (ii) age and (iii) sex. (187201)
	There were no deaths of children where there was any mention of alcohol on the death certificate in (a) 2006 (the latest 12 month period available). The table attached provides, for (b) the five year period 2002-06, the number of deaths of children which resulted from the effects of alcohol, or where there was any mention of alcohol on the death certificate, by (i) strategic health authority in England. Of these 11 deaths, (ii) all were aged between 12 and 15, and (iii) there were six boys and five girls.
	
		
			  Table 1. Number of deaths with any mention of alcohol on the death certificate( 1) , children under the age of 16, by strategic health authority, 2002-06( 2) 
			   Deaths (persons) 
			 North East 3 
			 North West 1 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 3 
			 East Midlands 1 
			 West Midlands 0 
			 East of England 1 
			 London 1 
			 South East Coast 1 
			 South Central 0 
			 Southwest 0 
			 England 11 
			 (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes F10 (mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol), T51 (toxic effect of alcohol) and Y90.4-Y90.8 (evidence of alcohol involvement determined by blood alcohol level of 80 or more mg/100 ml), where there was any mention of these codes on the death certificate, with the exclusion of deaths where the underlying cause of death was drug-related poisoning or the deceased was identified as being a passenger in a vehicle. (2) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.

Alcoholic Drinks: East of England

David Ruffley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths in which alcohol was the primary cause there were in  (a) Suffolk,  (b) Norfolk and  (c) Cambridgeshire in each year since 1997.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 22 February 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many deaths in which alcohol was the primary cause there were in  (a) Suffolk,  (b) Norfolk and  (c) Cambridgeshire in each year since 1997. (187616)
	The table attached provides the number of deaths with an alcohol-related underlying cause in  (a) Suffolk,  (b) Norfolk and  (c) Cambridgeshire counties, from 1997 to 2006 (the latest year available).
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of deaths with an alcohol-related underlying cause of death( 1) , Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire counties( 2) ,1997 to 2006( 3) 
			  Deaths (persons) 
			   Suffolk  Norfolk  Cambridgeshire 
			 1997 37 50 32 
			 1998 53 64 28 
			 1999 43 60 40 
			 2000 50 69 36 
			 2001 51 67 38 
			 2002 48 70 51 
			 2003 60 87 37 
			 2004 65 70 45 
			 2005 56 81 48 
			 2006 70 89 54 
			 (1 )Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) for the years 1997 to 2000, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) for 2001 onwards. The specific causes of death categorised as alcohol-related, and their corresponding ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes, are shown in the boxes below. (2) Based on boundaries as of 2007. (3) All figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. 
		
	
	
		
			  Box 1. Alcohol-related causes of death - International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) 
			  Cause of death  ICD-9 code(s) 
			 Alcoholic psychoses 291 
			 Alcohol dependence syndrome 303 
			 Non-dependent abuse of alcohol 305.0 
			 Alcoholic cardiomyopathy 425.5 
			 Alcoholic fatty liver 571.0 
			 Acute alcoholic hepatitis 571.1 
			 Alcoholic cirrhosis of liver 571.2 
			 Alcoholic liver damage, unspecified 571.3 
			 Chronic hepatitis 571.4 
			 Cirrhosis of liver without mention of alcohol 571.5 
			 Other chronic nonalcoholic liver disease 571.8 
			 Unspecified chronic liver disease without mention of alcohol 571.9 
			 Accidental poisoning by alcohol E860 
		
	
	
		
			  Box 2. Alcohol-related causes of death — International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) 
			  Cause of death  ICD-10 code(s) 
			 Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol F10 
			 Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol G31.2 
			 Alcoholic polyneuropathy G62.1 
			 Alcoholic cardiomyopathy I42.6 
			 Alcoholic gastritis K29.2 
			 Alcoholic liver disease K70 
			 Chronic hepatitis, not elsewhere classified K73 
			 Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver (excl. Biliary cirrhosis) K74 (excl. K74.3-K74.5) 
			 Alcohol induced chronic pancreatitis K86.0 
			 Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol X45 
			 Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to alcohol X65 
			 Poisoning by and exposure to alcohol, undetermined intent Y15

Child Tax Credit

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of UK households eligible for but not claiming  (a) child tax credits and  (b) working tax credits.

Jane Kennedy: Estimates of the take-up rate for child and working tax credits in 2004-05, for which latest figures are available, are produced in the HMRC publication "Child and Working Tax Credit Take-up rates 2004-05". This publication is available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-take-up.htm

Children

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of children were living with  (a) both birth parents,  (b) one birth parent and  (c) no birth parents in each year since 1987, broken down by social class.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 22 February 2008:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what proportion of children were living with (a) both birth parents, (b) one birth parent and (c) no birth parents in each year since 1987, broken down by social class. (187143)
	This information is only available from the 2001 Census. It is not possible to readily identify whether children are living with their birth parents from other sources.
	The question asks for the proportion of children by the number of birth parents in the family. In the 2001 Census the number of children living with both birth parents can be obtained from the number of children living in couple families that are not stepfamilies plus the number of children living in stepfamilies who are children of both parents. The number of children living with one birth parent can be obtained from the number of children living in couple stepfamilies who are the stepchild of one of the partners plus the number of children living in lone parent families. All other children living in households have been considered to be living with neither birth parent. This group will include children living with a step-parent only and those living with other relatives but not a birth parent.
	Table 1, attached, shows the proportion of dependent children in households in England and Wales by number of birth parents and the NS-SEC of the household reference person, according to the 2001 Census. The table refers to children living in households only, because we cannot provide the requested information for children living in communal establishments. According to the 2001 Census, the number of dependent children in communal establishments in England and Wales was 47,643.
	From 2001 the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) has been used for all official statistics and surveys as a replacement for social class. In some cases, the household reference person may not necessarily be a birth parent of the child.
	Comparable data from the 1991 Census are not available because stepfamilies were not separately identified in 1991. Family data are available on an annual basis for recent years from the General Household Survey (GHS) and the Labour Force Survey (LFS). However, these surveys do not readily identify children in families by the number of birth parents.
	
		
			  Dependent children in households by parent status and NS-SEC of household reference person (HRP)—England and Wales 
			  NS-SEC  Both birth parents (Percentage)  One birth parent (Percentage)  No birth parents (Percentage)  Base 
			 Higher managerial and professional occupations 90 9 1 1,636,093 
			 Lower managerial and professional occupations 80 19 1 2,608,709 
			 Intermediate occupations 59 39 1 776,259 
			 Small employers and own account workers 85 13 2 1,348,021 
			 Lower supervisory and technical occupations 81 17 1 1,237,363 
			 Semi-routine occupations 57 41 2 1,364,120 
			 Routine occupations 68 30 2 1,306,668 
			 Full-time student 30 62 8 118,037 
			 Never worked, long-term unemployed, not classifiable for other reasons 28 67 5 1,269,996 
			 Total dependent children 70 28 2 11,665,266 
			  Notes:  1. Cells in this table have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data.  2. "No birth parents" includes children living with grandparents where no parent is present and children living with step-parents only.  3. Children under 16 living with a partner or child are included in the "no birth parents" category.  4. NS-SEC is calculated according to the household reference person (HRP) and is not necessarily that of either birth parent.  5. An error in processing has resulted in under estimation of the numbers of economically inactive people aged 65-74 who had never worked in tables containing these data throughout England and Wales. Users are advised either to restrict analyses of ever worked and NS-SEC to the economically active population and to economically inactive people aged under 65, or to combine the "never worked" and "not classifiable for other reasons" categories when analysing NS-SEC. The latter is the approach adopted by ONS in the production of commissioned tables and has been used in this case.  6. Crown Copyright applies unless otherwise stated, Copyright@ons.gov.uk.   Source:  2001 Census.

Debt Collection: Standards

Bob Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who in HM Revenue and Customs is responsible for ensuring compliance with the national standards for enforcement agents by contracted enforcement companies; what compliance checks were undertaken in 2007; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry for Justice (Maria Eagle) on 21 February 2008,  Official Report, column 965-6W.

Departmental Advertising

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department and its agencies spent on  (a) sponsoring newspaper or publication supplements and  (b) funding advertorials in newspapers and other publications in the last year for which figures are available.

Angela Eagle: In 2006-07 OGCbuying.solutions spent £23,000 on publication supplements. National Savings and Investments could not provide the information within the disproportionate costs threshold. For details of spending by the Treasury and the remaining agencies, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 8 October 2007,  Official Report, column 219W.

Departmental Official Residences

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many ministerial residences were available to his Department's Ministers in each of the last 10 years.

Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office on 19 February 2008,  Official Report, column 688W.

Departmental Retirement

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff in his Department retired on grounds of stress-related illness in each of the last three years.

Angela Eagle: None.

Departmental Security

Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the  (a) special advisers and  (b) ministerial appointees in possession of a security pass enabling access to his Department's main building in the month prior to the prorogation of Parliament for the 2005 general election.

Angela Eagle: It is established practice not to provide details on pass access to Government buildings for security reasons.

Departmental Sick Leave

Pete Wishart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of working days lost by his Department's staff was attributed to stress-related conditions in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Angela Eagle: In financial year 2006-07 the percentage of absences due to stress-related conditions was 14 per cent. of the total working days lost to sickness absence in the HM Treasury.

Departmental Sick Pay

Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost of sickness pay to staff within his Department was in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Angela Eagle: This information is available only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Visits Abroad

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many overseas visits by officials in his Department took place in each of the last 10 years; which countries were visited; and how much was spent on such visits in each such year;
	(2)  how much his Department spent on travel  (a) within and  (b) outside the UK for officials in each of the last 10 years; and what percentage of his Department's overall expenditure was spent on such travel in each such year.

Angela Eagle: For details of overseas visits I refer to the answer given to the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) on 25 July 2007,  Official Report, column 1186W. Spending on UK travel in 2006-07 was £506,000. For details of UK travel in earlier years I refer to the answer given by the then Financial Secretary (Mr. Healey) to the hon. Member for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois) on 29 November 2006,  Official Report, column 719W.
	Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the civil service management code and the ministerial code.

External Contracts

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 31 January 2008,  Official Report, column 671W, on external contracts, how many external consultancy contracts his Department held in each year for which figures are available; and what the total value of those contracts was.

Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr. Browne) on 22 January 2008,  Official Report, columns 1957-58W.

Financial Institutions: Bank of England

Adam Price: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any financial institutions other than Northern Rock have asked the Bank of England for financial assistance in the last 12 months.

Jane Kennedy: The Bank of England does not disclose whether or not it has received requests for financial assistance.

Foreign Workers

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many migrant workers from  (a) inside and  (b) outside the EU were in employment in the UK in each quarter since 1984.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 22 February 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about how many migrant workers from (a) inside and (b) outside the EU have been in employment in the UK in each quarter from 1984 to 2008. (187149)
	The attached table gives figures for Q4 from 1992 on a seasonal quarter basis and from 1997 on a calendar quarter basis. These estimates have not been seasonally adjusted. Comparable estimates are not available prior to 1992 or for 1998 and 2000.
	The data for analysing migrant workers comes from the Labour Force Survey. The National Statistics method for estimating the number of migrant workers employed in the UK is based on the number of people at a given time who were born abroad, are of working age (16 - 64 for men, 16-59 for women), and in employment. This question has been answered on this basis.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			  People of working age( 1)  in employment by country of birth, Quarter 4,1992 to 2007, United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted 
			  Thousand 
			   Total in employment( 2)  UK Born  EU( 3)  Born  Born in rest of the world 
			 1992 24,081 22,265 490 1,317 
			 1993 24,001 22,284 452 1,261 
			 1994 24,242 22,479 495 1,267 
			 1995 25,108 23,341 523 1,244 
			 1996 25.398 23,586 512 1,295 
			 1997 25,811 23,869 544 1,398 
			 1999 26,389 24,362 566 1,458 
			 2001 26,749 24,514 576 1,656 
			 2002 26,986 24,583 593 1,809 
			 2003 27,045 24,607 577 1,859 
			 2004 27,262 24,599 748 1,914 
			 2005 27,207 24,376 843 1,987 
			 2006 27,323 24,207 952 2,159 
			 2007 27,513 24,111 1,140 2,258 
			 (1) Men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59 (2) Includes those who did not state their country of birth (3) 1992 Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Irish Republic, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain 1995 Austria, Finland and Sweden join 2004 Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia join 2007 Bulgaria and Romania join  Notes: 1. It should be noted that the estimates: exclude certain people who have been resident in the UK for less than 6 months. exclude students in halls of residence who do not have a UK resident parent. exclude people in most types of communal establishment (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites etc). are grossed to population estimates that only include migrants staying 12 months or more are grossed to population estimates consistent with those published in spring 2003 which are significantly lower than the latest population estimates as used in the Labour Market Statistics 2. Comparable data not available for 1998 and 2000.  Source:  ONS Labour Force Survey

Gold and Foreign Exchange Reserves

Peter Lilley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much in net ounces of gold has been sold from the foreign exchange reserves since 1997; what the net proceeds have been from those sales; and what the current value would be of the amount sold.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 20 February 2008
	395 tonnes of gold were sold from the reserves between July 1999 and March 2002 and re-invested in interest-bearing foreign currency assets. Other central banks have adopted similar policies. The total proceeds were around $3.5 billion, equivalent to around £2.3 billion (using exchange rates at the time of the sales). On 15 February 2008, the current market value of the gold sold was around $11.5 billion, equivalent to around £5.8 billion.
	The programme was part of a restructuring of the foreign currency and gold reserves aimed at achieving a better-balanced portfolio. As a result of the programme a one-off reduction in risk of approximately 30 per cent. was achieved, as measured by a type of widely used financial risk model—Value-at-Risk.

Honours

Greg Pope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many members of the senior civil service in his Department have received an honour.

Jane Kennedy: In the last five years five members of the senior civil service currently serving in the Treasury have received an honour.
	This does not include any awards that may have been received that are not related to official duties, or awards held by staff before joining the Department, as this data is not routinely held.

Income

Graham Allen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much a single earner on average earnings with two children earned in  (a) 1997 and  (b) 2007.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 22 February 2008:
	The National Statistician, has been asked to reply to your parliamentary question asking how much a single earner on average earnings with two children earned in  (a)1997 and  (b) 2007. I am replying in her absence. (187302)
	The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is the principal spurge of statistics on employees' earnings. The information requested is not available from the ASHE because the survey does not collect details of employees' family circumstances. The labour force survey (LFS) collects information about each member of participating households and can therefore be used to estimate how many people are in employment with two children. However, the LFS cannot be used to estimate their average earnings. This is because statistics on. lone parents and couples are produced from the LFS household datasets, which do not contain information on earnings within each family unit.

Income: Equality

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of  (a) the income inequality gap and  (b) changes to this differential since 1997; and what measures he plans to introduce to address income inequalities.

Jane Kennedy: Measures of household income inequality are published annually by the Department of Work and Pensions in "Households Below Average Income" and by the Office for National Statistics in "The Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income".
	The Government have implemented a comprehensive programme to promote employment opportunity for all and a fair society in which everyone shares in rising national prosperity, including the introduction of the new deals, the national minimum wage and tax credits.

Income: Nottingham

Graham Allen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in Nottingham North constituency were in receipt of no more than the national minimum wage in the latest period for which figures are available.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 22 February 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question about the number of families in Nottingham North who were in receipt of no more than the national minimum wage in the latest period for which figures are available.
	The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is the principal source of statistics on employee earnings. However, since the ASHE does not collect information about family status, estimates for the number of families paid below the national minimum wage are not available. They are available by region and by age group (16 to 17-years-olds, 18 to 21-year-olds and 22 and over) for the UK.
	A guide to measuring low pay and associated articles can be found on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5837

Lone Parents

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many working age lone parents his Department estimates lived in each region in the UK in each year since 1997, broken down by sex.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 22 February 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on how many working age lone parents lived in each region in the UK, broken down by sex in each year since 1997. (187705)
	The information requested is given in the table attached. The figures in the table are estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for the three month period ending in June of each year for 1997, 1999 and 2000 to 2007. Comparable estimates for 1998 and 2000 are not currently available.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			  Number of working age( 1)  lone parents with dependent children( 2)  by region and sex April-June 1997, 1999, 2001-07, not seasonally adjusted 
			  Thousand 
			   North-east  North-west  Yorkshire and Humberside  East midlands  West midlands  Eastern  London 
			  Lone fathers 
			 1997 6 17 14 11 17 17 15 
			 1998 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1999 7 17 13 12 18 12 21 
			 2000 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2001 7 19 16 13 15 14 19 
			 2002 8 24 14 14 12 14 25 
			 2003 7 28 17 16 9 16 16 
			 2004 8 19 16 14 11 14 23 
			 2005 3 23 16 13 15 12 18 
			 2006 4 19 15 14 12 11 18 
			 2007 8 19 13 13 17 10 16 
			 
			  Lone mothers 
			 1997 78 199 136 88 130 102 219 
			 1998 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1999 89 229 127 82 130 110 266 
			 2000 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2001 80 213 136 96 140 106 255 
			 2002 83 248 132 102 151 116 248 
			 2003 92 232 134 98 141 120 254 
			 2004 79 225 141 93 137 123 283 
			 2005 88 229 147 110 146 119 267 
			 2006 81 229 140 105 143 130 264 
			 2007 77 220 136 106 159 137 278 
			 
			  All lone parents 
			 1997 84 216 150 99 147 118 234 
			 1998 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1999 96 246 140 93 148 123 287 
			 2000 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2001 86 232 152 108 155 119 274 
			 2002 92 271 146 116 164 129 272 
			 2003 98 260 152 114 150 135 270 
			 2004 87 245 158 107 148 137 306 
			 2005 91 252 164 123 161 131 285 
			 2006 85 249 155 119 156 141 282 
			 2007 85 239 149 118 176 146 294 
		
	
	
		
			  Thousand 
			   South-east  South-west  Wales  Scotland  Northern Ireland  Total 
			  Lone fathers 
			 1997 19 10 7 10 3 146 
			 1998 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1999 18 14 6 12 5 157 
			 2000 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2001 17 13 11 18 4 164 
			 2002 13 14 8 15 3 164 
			 2003 20 15 8 13 6 171 
			 2004 22 17 8 14 2 170 
			 2005 22 15 10 13 4 164 
			 2006 24 11 12 12 4 156 
			 2007 19 13 8 18 3 156 
			
			  Lone mothers 
			 1997 152 90 81 132 45 1,452 
			 1998 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1999 154 103 96 147 47 1,579 
			 2000 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2001 168 104 90 150 49 1,586 
			 2002 180 104 87 142 53 1,646 
			 2003 178 101 82 148 54 1,633 
			 2004 171 108 98 159 60 1,678 
			 2005 170 114 80 164 56 1,691 
			 2006 176 107 96 153 48 1,673 
			 2007 185 113 92 141 48 1,692 
			
			  All lone parents 
			 1997 171 101 88 142 47 1,598 
			 1998 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1999 171 117 102 160 53 1,736 
			 2000 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2001 184 117 101 168 53 1,750 
			 2002 193 119 94 157 56 1,809 
			 2003 198 116 90 161 60 1,804 
			 2004 194 125 106 174 62 1,848 
			 2005 192 129 90 176 60 1,856 
			 2006 200 118 108 164 52 1,829 
			 2007 204 126 100 159 51 1,848 
			 n/a = comparable estimates for 1998 and 2000 are not currently available (1) Men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59 (2) Dependent children are those aged under 16 and those aged or 16-18 who are never-married and in full-time education  Notes: 1. As with any sample survey, estimates from the Labour Force Survey are subject to a margin or uncertainty. 2. Estimates are weighted to the population estimates published by ONS in February and March 2003.  Source: LFS Household datasets

National Insurance Fund

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage increase in the basic state pension could be paid in the years from 2009-10 to 2012-13 by using the national insurance fund's excess of receipts over payments projected by the acting Government Actuary for that period.

Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
	The NIF is not just for state pension expenditure but for other contributory benefits such as incapacity benefit and contribution-based jobseeker's allowance.
	National insurance contributions and associated social security benefits operate within the Government's fiscal rules designed to ensure sound public finances and when there is a surplus it is invested in public services. Any surplus of NICs over social security benefits in any one year (the NIF surplus) is not therefore an extra resource available to spend.
	The NIF is maintained under the control and management of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

Quality of Life

Jo Swinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what definition of quality of life he uses.

Jane Kennedy: Productivity and employment are the key determinants of growth and therefore of living standards. However, a large volume are of other data also important indicators for a broader measure of quality of life, such as those on crime, working hours, social capital, social demography and health.

Revenue and Customs: Fraud

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff in HM Revenue and Customs have been investigated for fraud in the last 12 months.

Jane Kennedy: From 1 April 2007 to date, there have been 35 completed investigations into suspected fraudulent activity by staff. HMRC is a large organisation employing approximately 88,000 staff.

Revenue and Customs: Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what training courses were attended by staff working at HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last three years; and what the cost of such courses was.

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 8 October 2007,  Official Report, column 220W. The information requested would be available only at a disproportionate cost.

Tax Avoidance

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the tax revenue lost due to tax avoidance in each financial year since 1997.

Jane Kennedy: This information is not available.
	As part of the avoidance disclosure regime, first introduced in 2004, promoters of schemes have to disclose to HMRC the details of the schemes developed and users should notify HMRC of a scheme in their tax return. For the last two years HMRC has published on its website a quarterly analysis of the number of avoidance schemes disclosed at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/avoidance/avoidance-disclosure-statistics.htm

Tax Avoidance: Companies

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to reduce the amount of tax revenue lost due to avoidance by large corporations; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The Government are committed to tackling avoidance and in recent years has taken a number of steps to identify and close down opportunities for avoidance. For example, they have introduced a disclosure regime which requires those designing and selling tax avoidance schemes to provide HM Revenue and Customs with details of those schemes within five days of them being first marketed. On receipt, the schemes are assessed for tax risk and consideration whether an urgent announcement of a legislative fix is needed to prevent extensive use of the scheme.
	Recent Finance Acts have all contained measures to close various loopholes in the tax system used by avoiders, most of these informed to some extent by information from the disclosure regime. This year will be no exception. In each of the last four budgets there have been revenue protection measures averaging around £1&frac12; billion a year.
	In addition to these legislative counteractions, HMRC has in place a comprehensive anti-avoidance strategy, published on its website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/avoidance/vision-strategy.htm

Tax Credit

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of tax credit awards are currently experiencing technical difficulties having been unresolved for six months or more; and what plans he has to resolve such difficulties.

Jane Kennedy: The information is not available in the format requested.

Tax Yields: Staffordshire

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Government raised in tax from  (a) Tamworth constituency and  (b) Staffordshire in each of the last five years.

Jane Kennedy: Information on the total amount of tax raised in Tamworth and Staffordshire is not available.

Taxation: Music

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what  (a) grants and  (b) tax incentives the Government has made to the UK popular music industry in the last 10 years; what the cost to the public purse has been of such (i) grants and (ii) tax incentives in that period; what recent representations he has received on support for the industry; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: No specific tax incentives for the UK popular music industry have existed in the last 10 years. The Treasury holds no records of any representations having been made on the subject of specific tax incentives or grants for the music industry. The Treasury has not made any grants to the music industry during the period.

Valuation Office: Rightmove

Bob Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to the public purse has been to date of the contract between HM Revenue and Customs, on behalf of the Valuation Office Agency, and Rightmove.co.uk Plc.

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 20 June 2007,  Official Report, column 1861W. Expenditure in the year 2007-08 will be available in the Valuation Office Agency's annual report and accounts, when published.

Welfare Tax Credits: Fraud

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were prosecuted in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 for tax credit fraud; how many people were found guilty; and how much money was fraudulently obtained in each such case where proceedings are complete.

Jane Kennedy: There were 183 prosecutions and 163 convictions for tax credits fraud in 2006-07.
	Figures for 2007-08 are not yet available.

Working Tax Credit

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the distribution of expenditure via  (a) working tax credit,  (b) child tax credit,  (c) the childcare element of working tax credit and  (d) the disability element of child tax credit, broken down by household income quintile;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of families eligible for  (a) working tax credit,  (b) child tax credit,  (c) the childcare element of working tax credit and  (d) the disability element of child tax credit in each income quintile.

Jane Kennedy: Estimates of the proportion of households in each income quintile with entitlements to tax credits in 2007-08 and a quintile breakdown of estimated entitlements by value is provided in the following table.
	
		
			   Tax credits 
			  Household income quintile( 1)  Percentage households with entitlements  Percentage total entitlements (value) 
			 1 37 48 
			 2 36 30 
			 3 33 14 
			 4 26 6 
			 5 4 1 
			 (1) Households ranked according to equivalised income after direct taxes and benefits 
		
	
	Entitlements to tax credits are modelled using family resources survey data, and are subject to sampling variation. Estimates are provided for tax credits overall; eligibility for working tax credit increases total tax credit entitlement but does not necessarily mean that a family will receive working tax credit. It is not possible to provide reliable estimates for the childcare element of working tax credit or the disability element of child tax credit in isolation.

Working Tax Credit

Maria Miller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of families received the childcare element of the working tax credit during the last year for which data are available; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: Estimates of the total number of families benefiting from tax credits and the number of in-work families benefiting from the childcare element, based on final family circumstances and incomes at 4 December 2007, are published in the HMRC publication "Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics December 2007", which is available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-dec07.pdf
	Depending on their income, families are generally eligible for the childcare element if they are working at least 16 hours a week, or in the case of a couple, both partners are working at least 16 hours a week. Their child must be in registered or approved childcare.

Working Tax Credit: Nottingham

Graham Allen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in Nottingham North constituency were in receipt of working families tax credit in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Jane Kennedy: Working families' tax credit was replaced by child and working tax credits in April 2003.
	Estimates of the number of recipient families of working families' tax credit in 2001-2002, broken down by constituency, appear in the HMRC quarterly WFTC and DPTC geographical analyses. These publications are available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/wftc/wfdptc_ geog.htm
	Estimates for 2005-06 of the number of in-work families with tax credit awards, by constituency, based on final family circumstances and incomes for 2005-06 are published in "Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics Finalised Annual Awards 2005-06. Geographical Analysis." This publication and provisional estimates for the number of in-work families by constituency with tax credit awards as at selected dates in 2006-07 and 2007-08 are available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-stats.htm

WALES

Departmental Correspondence

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many letters his Department received in each of the last five years.

Paul Murphy: The total number of letters received in each year from 2003 were as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2003 826 
			 2004 740 
			 2005 722 
			 2006 518 
			 2007 493 
		
	
	This figure does not include interdepartmental correspondence, this can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

Eurostar

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on  (a) first and  (b) other class travel by Eurostar in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Paul Murphy: None.

WOMEN AND EQUALITY

Polygamy

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what estimate she has made of the number of polygamous unions there are in the UK involving  (a) three and  (b) four people.

Barbara Follett: No estimate has been made of the number of polygamous unions there are in the UK involving  (a) three and  (b) four people.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Child Support Agency: Private Sector

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how much private agencies have collected on behalf of the Child Support Agency since such companies were first contracted to provide collection services on 7 July 2006;
	(2)  how many debt collection cases for child support have been referred to private agencies; in how many such cases has  (a) full collection and  (b) partial collection been secured; and how the performance of private agencies compares to cases handled directly by the Child Support Agency over the same period since 7 July 2006.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 22 February 2008:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	and
	How many debt collection cases for child support have been referred to private agencies; in how many such cases has (a) full collection and (b) partial collection been secured; and how their performance compares to cases handled directly by the Child Support Agency over the same period since 7(th) July 2006,
	The Agency contracted both Eversheds Limited Liability Partnership and iQor (formerly known as Legal and Trade) to collect debt on some of the Agency's cases from July 2006. By the end of 2007, over 63,000 cases had been referred to these debt collection agencies, who have to date collected debt from 15,619 cases, amounting to £9.3 million. Of those 15,619 cases, 3,092 cases have been repaid in full.
	While it is not possible to compare directly as there are differences in the enforcement tools employed by the Agency and the debt collection agencies, the total amount of maintenance collected and arranged from all sources for the period was over £1.4 billion of which £159.6 million was arrears.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the total carbon emissions from his Department's estate in each year since 2005.

Anne McGuire: Total carbon emissions for the Department of Work and Pensions, as reported in the annual Sustainable Development in Government reports since 2005 are as follows:
	
		
			   KgC 
			 2005-06 59,098,569 
			 2006-07 60,063,793 
		
	
	These figures are calculated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and do not reflect the substantial volumes of renewable electricity secured by the Department during those years.

Employment Schemes

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have found sustained employment through Workstep; and what his Department's annual expenditure on Workstep has been in each year since the scheme was introduced.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 30 January 2008
	 Around 2,900 individuals have been recorded as progressing to sustained employment on the Workstep programme up to the end of September 2007.
	Information about the Department's annual spend on Workstep is in the following table.
	
		
			  Workstep spend and numbers helped 
			   Spend (£ million)  Number of individuals who received supported employment 
			 2002-03 59.3 14,170 
			 2003-04 74.2 15,270 
			 2004-05 68.7 16,620 
			 2005-06 69.2 17,260 
			 2006-07 63.9 17,200

Housing Benefit: Antisocial Behaviour

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the Answers of 18 February 2008,  Official Report, columns 235-36W, on housing benefit: anti-social behaviour, how many  (a) individuals and  (b) households (i) in each of the nine pilot areas and (ii) in the UK were (A) the subject of an order for possession on grounds of anti-social behaviour and subsequently left the property and (B) unreasonably refused to engage with the help and support offered as specified in a written warning notice while in receipt of housing benefit in the latest period for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: As part of the sanction process, when a possession order is served on a household, the court clerk sends a copy of the order to the Department for Work and Pensions. To date, DWP has not been notified by the court of any relevant orders for possession in the eight pilot areas.
	Information on the numbers of orders for possession on grounds of antisocial behaviour in the UK is not available.

State Retirement Pensions

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment for benchmarking purposes he has made of the provision of state pensions in the UK in comparison with other European countries.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 6 February 2008
	 Direct comparisons of levels of state pensions between countries can be misleading, as differences may be due to underlying economic conditions or policy choices, such as different costs faced by pensioners and the presence of other policies targeting the welfare of elderly people.
	In contrast with many other European countries, the UK's policy on retirement income provision envisages the state providing benefits that act as a foundation for private saving, and not the state as being the sole provider. The UK state pension system is also structured differently than that in other European countries, in that it targets spending on those on lower incomes, rather than aiming at providing the same level of generosity to all income groups.
	The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report, "Pensions At A Glance 2007", published on 7 June, confirms that the UK targets the greatest resources on those most in need and that the UK has a very redistributive pension system that is more generous towards people on lower incomes.
	Eurostat data indicate that the median income of UK persons aged 65+ (adjusted for cost of living differences), are much higher than the EU average and is the fifth highest in Europe.
	The OECD also noted that 'changes to the public pension system since 1997 have increased future benefits for low earners', with average pensions for this income group up by seven percentage points, while
	'recent reforms in France, Germany and Japan have cut benefits by around 15-20 percent'.
	The average pension promise in 16 OECD countries studied was cut by 22 per cent. In only two countries—Hungary and the United Kingdom—did pension promises increase on average.
	This Government are committed to further improve this situation. In fact, the latest assessment of the European Commission on UK pension policy, published at the end of January, endorsed our recent pension reforms, stating that
	"these reforms will ensure that recent achievements in reducing pensioner poverty are secure into the future".

Unemployment

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of those classified as workless households were  (a) families with dependants,  (b) two parent households,  (c) lone parent households,  (d) single parent households and  (e) claiming incapacity benefit in the last period for which figures are available.

Stephen Timms: Data on workless households are drawn from the labour force survey. It is not possible to provide data relating to households and individuals on benefits from the labour force survey. The available information is in the table.
	
		
			  Number of working age workless households by type. Great Britain: Quarter 2 (April, May, June) 2007 
			   Thousand 
			 Two parent household with dependent children 293 
			 Lone/single parent household with dependent children 684 
			 Other household with dependent children 11 
			 Total number of workless households with dependent children 989 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 2. The figures show the number of working-age households with dependent children where no adult works. 3. A working-age household is a household that includes at least one person of working age (a woman aged between 16 and 59 or a man aged between 16 and 64). 4. Workless individuals are those who are either International Labour Organisation unemployed or economically inactive (that is, not in employment). 5. A dependent child is defined as a child aged under 16 or aged under 19 and in full-time education.  Source: ONS Labour Force Survey